IRLF 


SB    E73 


LIBRARY 

OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 

OF" 


C/ass 


if 


The  Mother  of  Clubs 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


The    Mother    of    Clubs 

CAROLINE  M.  SEYMOUR 
SEVERANCE 

An  Estimate  and  an  Appreciation 


ELLA   GILES  RUDDY 
EDITOR 


"The  Eternally  Feminine  Leads  Us  Upward  and  On."— Goethe 


BAUMGARDT  PUBLISHING   CO. 
1906 


Copyright  1906 
Baumgardt  Publishing  Company 


Table  of  Contents 


FOREWORD    13 

CHAPTER  I 

THE  GENESIS  AND  PURPOSE  OF  THE  CLUB  IDEA 21 

History  of  the  Initiative  of  Woman's  Clubs  in  America. 

CHAPTER  II 

FROM  BOSTON  TO  LOS  ANGELES 30 

Farewell  Luncheon  given  by  New  England  Woman's  Club. 
Addresses  and  letters  to  New  England  Woman's  Club. 

CHAPTER  III 

WOMAN'S  CLUB  AND  FRIDAY  MORNING  CLUB  OF  LOS  AN- 
GELES         44 

First  Club  in  Los  Angeles. 

Friday  Morning  Club. 

Addresses  to  Friday  Morning  Club. 

CHAPTER  IV 

A  BIT  OF  PERSONAL  EVOLUTION S4 

Address  before  Congress  of  Religions,  Los  Angeles. 


155772 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  V 
LETTEBS  AND  ADDKESSES    63 

Letter  to  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Women.     1894. 

Letter  to  Woman's  Congress.     1894. 

Address  before  Woman's  Parliament  of  Southern  California. 

Kemarks  before  Woman's  Club  of  Santa  Barbara. 

Address  to  Twentieth  Century  Club  of  San  Francisco. 

General  Federation;— Papers  and  Addresses.     1902. 

Introducing  Miss  Anthony  at  Venice  Assembly,  Cal.,  1905. 

CHAPTER  VI 

CONTRIBUTIONS    TO   CUKKENT   THOUGHT 78 

Peace  Memorial. 

Words  to  Mothers. 

The  Ideal  Home. 

The  Kindergarten  in  Los  Angeles. 

Christian  Socialism. 

Letter  Written  for  Woman's  Socialist  Gathering. 

Letter  to  a  Multi-Millionaire. 

The  Beauties  of  Los  Angeles. 

The  New  Italy. 

Other  Topics. 

CHAPTER  VII 

EEMINISCENCES    108 

John  G.  Whittier. 
Memories  of  Emerson. 
Wendell  Phillips. 
The  Garrisons. 
The  Beechers. 
Julia  Ward  Howe. 
Jennie  C.  Croly. 
The  Fremonts. 
Helen  Hunt  Jackson. 
Kate  Douglas  Wiggin 
Eastern  Press  Women. 
California  Friends. 


TABLE  OF  CONTENTS 


CHAPTER  VIII 

EXTRACTS  FROM  LETTERS  WRITTEN  TO  MADAME   SEVER- 
ANCE       142 

Lucy  Stone. 
Susan  B.  Anthony. 
Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton. 
Dr.  Marie  Zakrzewska. 
Julia  A.  Sprague. 
Sophia  Townsend. 
Abby  Gould  Woolson. 
Madame  Helena  Modjeska. 
Susan  Look  Avery. 
Helen  Gardner. 
Lucretia  B.  Garfield. 
Jane  L.  Stanford. 
Georgia  B.  Ferguson. 
Charlotte  Perkins  Gilman. 
Mary  Newberry  Adams. 
Mrs.  Jennie  DeWitt. 
Mrs.  Helen  Densmore. 
Lillian  Whiting. 
Elizabeth  B.  Custer. 
Sarah  Burger  Stearns. 
Mary  Florence  Denton. 
Will  Allen  Dromgoole. 
William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Jr. 
N.  0.  Nelson. 
Charles  Ferguson. 
Mr.  and  Mrs.  Louis  Prang. 
Henry  Demarest  Lloyd. 
William  E.  Smythe. 
B.  Fay  Mills. 
J.  Stitt  Wilson. 
Charles  F.  Lummis. 
Bishop  Montgomery. 
Dr.  John  R.  Haynes. 

CHAPTER  IX 

"EL  NIDO,"  The  Home  "Nest"  182 


FOREWORD 


It  was  in  1869  that  the  editor  of  this  volume  first  met  Madame 
Severance— not  in  the  flesh,  but  in  the  spirit.  "Eminent 
Women  of  the  Age"  was  the  imposing  title  of  a  book  published 
in  that  year.  Among  the  various  sketches  the  pages  relating 
to  Mrs.  Severance  were  especially  interesting.  Here  may  be 
inserted  a  quotation  from  Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton,  written 
thirty-seven  years  ago : 

"Mrs.  Severance  now  resides  in  West  Newton,  a  suburb  of 
Boston,  where  she  is  living  a  quiet  life  in  a  beautiful  home.  She 
is  using  her  pen  in  a  way  which  she  hopes  will  some  day  prove 
a  means  of  broader  influence.  In  manner  and  appearance, 
Mrs.  Severance  is  very  attractive.  She  has  a  handsome  face 
and  figure,  dignified  carriage  and  fine  conversational  powers. 
She  is  an  amiable,  affectionate,  conscientious  woman,  faithful 
alike  in  her  private  and  public  duties." 

Although  brief,  the  article  was  lively  and  tactful.  Mrs. 
Stanton  had  requested  a  sketch  of  Mrs.  Severance,  nolens 
volens,  stating  that  it  rested  with  herself  whether  the  article 
should  be  an  objective  view,  such  as  could  be  taken  a  hundred 
miles  away,  or  a  subjective  one  taken  by  being  en  rapport  with 
her  through  frank  correspondence.  Mrs.  Severance  chose  the 
latter  and  wrote  the  following  letter : 

Mrs.  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton, 

Dear  Friend: — Isn't  this  an  interesting  dilemma,  to  find  one's  self 
in,  to  be  exhibited  whether  you  will  or  not?  One  who  has  reached  years 
of  discretion  surely,  in  our  free  land,  to  have  no  chance  of  a  choice, 
whether  to  remain  incog,  or  be  set  on  high  for  all  the  daws  to  peck  at? 
But  to  this  we  have  come  at  last  and  in  my  extremity,  if  I  may  choose 
nothing  else,  I  surely  shall  snatch  at  the  chance  to  say  by  whom  this 
most  undesirable  service  shall  be  performed  and  I  gladly  submit  to  your 
second  choice. 

I  have  done  so  little  to  justify  my  years  that  I  might  shrink  from 
such  a  sketch  as  you  propose  with  better  reason  than  could  influence 


Cfte    Sjjot&er    of    Clubs 


many  of  our  sex.  But  lest  you  should  think  my  humility  affectation,  I 
frankly  avow  that  I  was  born  in  Canandaigua,  New  York,  in  January, 
1820,  if  you  consider  date  and  birthplace  important  to  the  sketch;  of 
neither  poor  nor  pious  parents,  although  cultivated,  conscientious  persons. 
My  father's  name  was  Orson  Seymour,  a  banker,  and  my  mother's  name 
was  Caroline  M.  Clarke.  I  was  married  in  1840  to  Theodoric  C.  Severance, 
a  banker  of  Cleveland,  Ohio. 

Neither  the  world  nor  my  historian  would  have  any  particular  in- 
terest in  what  I  said  or  did  after  that  remarkable  event  of  January  12th, 
and  the  good  sense  of  choosing  so  beautiful  a  portion  of  the  earth's 
surface  for  a  birthplace,  until  the  mother  of  five  children,  with  little 
experience  in  life  and  less  in  society,  having  devoted  myself  to  home 
and  books,  I  was  chosen  in  1853  to  read,  before  the  ' '  Mercantile  Library 
Association"  of  Cleveland,  the  first  lecture  ever  delivered  by  a. woman 
before  such  a  society. 

My  subject  was  "Humanity;  a  Definition  and  a  Plea."  I  had 
already  been  identified  with  the  Woman's  Eights  movement,  having  at- 
tended conventions  in  Indiana,  Ohio  and  New  York;  and  this  accounts 
for  my  invitation  on  this  occasion.  I  cannot  tell  you  how  long  I  hesi- 
tated about  accepting  this  position.  The  more  I  pleaded  my  unfitness, 
the  more  I  was  pressed  with  a  sense  of  duty,  and  at  last  I  wrote  the 
most  exhaustive  essay  I  could  on  the  subject,  to  make  sure  that  my  city 
should  have  all  that  could  be  said  upon  it.  An  immense  audience  lis- 
tened, with  becoming  silence  and  respect,  through  an  hour  and  three- 
quarters. 

This  lecture  I  repeated  several  times  in  different  parts  of  the  state. 
After  that  the  Ohio  "Woman's  Rights  Association"  asked  me  to  prepare 
a  tract  for  its  circulation.  Later,  I  was  appointed  to  present  to  the 
Legislature  a  memorial,  asking  suffrage  and  such  amendments  to  the  state 
laws  of  Ohio,  as  should  place  woman  on  a  civil  equality  with  man. 

In  1855  we  came  to  Massachusetts,  the  home  of  my  heart  always,— 
and  here  I  have  done  nothing  deserving  the  punishment  of  public  ex- 
posure, that  I  now  remember  against  myself,  until  as  one  of  the  lecture 
committee  of  the  "Theodore  Parker  Fraternity  Association,"  it  became 
my  duty  to  assist  in  securing  a  woman  lecturer  for  the  course.  We 
invited  you,  Mrs.  Stanton,  but  when,  at  the  last  moment,  you  were 
obliged  to  disappoint  us,  I  was  not  able  to  resist  the  entreaties  of  the 
committee  and  the  obligation  that  I  felt  myself  under  to  make  good 
your  place,  so  far  as  in  me  lay. 

That  was,  I  believe,  the  first  lecture  ever  delivered  in  Boston  by  a 
woman  befor.e  a  Lyceum  Association.  I  will  not  tell  you  how  prosy  and 
dull  I  fear  it  was;  but  I  know  it  was  earnest  and  well  considered,  and 
that  the  beaming  eyes  of  dear  Mrs.  Follen  and  Miss  Elizabeth  Peabody, 
glowing  with  interest  before  me  from  below  the  platform  of  Tremont 
Temple,  kept  me  in  heart  all  through. 

Since  then,  from  want  of  gifts  and  voice,  I  have  not  spoken  much 
in  public,  though  I  have  given  soul-service  in  many  directions,  standing 


of   CIu60  15 


as  corresponding  secretary  for  the  Boston  Anti-slavery  Society,  as  one 
of  the  Board  of  Managers  of  the  Boston  Woman's  Hospital,  and  reading 
a  course  of  lectures  on  practical  ethics  before  Dio  Lewis'  school  for 
girls,  at  Lexington,  Mass.  These  lectures  cover  the  relation  of  the 
young  woman  to  the  school,  the  State,  the  home,  and  to  her  own 
development. 

As  a  mother,  I  am  happy  to  say  that  my  sons  and  daughter  have 
never  disgraced,  and  I  see  no  reason  to  believe,  ever  will  dishonor  my 
name,  or  bring  in  question  my  influence  over  them  or  fidelity  to  them. 
Pure  in  heart,  noble  in  all  their  tastes  and  tendencies,  they  are  my  joy 
in  the  present,  my  hope  in  the  future  and  my  best  legacy  to  it. 

Here  you  have  me,  my  good  friend,  in  a  nut-shell,— not  multum  in 
parvo,  it  must  be  confessed.  Yours  sincerely, 

C.  M.  S." 

The  utilization  of  the  truth,  the  goodness,  the  intelligence  of 
the  literary  and  philanthropic  women  of  New  England,  and 
the  vast  benefits  which  she  foresaw  would  flow  from  such  a 
union,  was  a  problem  over  which  Mrs.  Severance  pondered  long 
and  which  she  finally  solved  by  calling  sympathetic  women  to- 
gether in  parlor  meetings  to  talk  over  her  ideas. 

It  is  a  far  cry  from  the  club  organizations  of  today  to  these 
women  who,  in  1868,  dimly  catching  the  outline  themselves,  in- 
troduced to  the  world  a  new  form  of  social  and  mental  architec- 
ture. What  is  now  an  old  ambition  among  women— the  form- 
ation of  a  club  for  the  purpose  of  general,  or  literary,  culture, 
or  for  civic  improvement,  was  at  that  time  a  new  departure. 
Up  to  this  time  there  had  been  no  women 's  clubs,  distinctively 
so-called  or  so-organized,  so  far  as  these  women  knew;  or  as 
recorded  by  Mrs.  Croly,  after  an  exhaustive  research  for  her 
"History  of  the  Club  Movement." 

Mrs.  Severance,  as  founder  and  first  president  of  the  first 
woman's  club  in  our  country— the  New  England  Woman's  Club 
of  Boston,  builded  an  ideal  of  a  broader  and  more  symmetrical 
fellowship  of  women  than  had  hitherto  existed.  There  are 
recognized  leaders  of  certain  special  movements  and  these  are 
epoch-making  men  and  women.  To  speak  of  the  "Mother  of 
Clubs"  is  to  suggest  a  tremendous  mental  and  social  force  in 
the  world  of  women.  And  as  the  thrones  of  the  eternal  fern- 


16  Cfte    a^otftet    of    Clubs 

inine  cannot  be  perpetually  located  far  from  the  seats  of  the 
mighty  masculine,  the  world  of  women  must  be  inclusive.  It 
means  eventually  the  world  of  men  and  women. 

The  "Mother  of  Clubs"  should  be  no  shadowy  figure;  histor^ 
ical  significance  attaches  to  her  personality.  She  is  not  a  mere 
fiction,  but  a  solid  fact  in  American  history.  She  is  generally 
recognized  by  the  best  authorities  on  the  subject,  as  the  prima] 
force  in  a  movement  that  has  become  a  stupendous  factor  in 
our  civilization.  "Madame  Momentum"  would  be  a  fitting 
name  for  Madame  Severance.  She  has  within  her  what  one  of 
her  friends  aptly  terms  the  "divine  urge." 

Her  pioneer  work  in  this  and  in  many  other  organizations  in 
New  England  and  in  California  has  proved  a  forceful  argument, 
if  any  were  needed,  in  establishing  her  inherent  right  to  many 
of  the  honors  attached  to  club  motherhood.  In  this  connection, 
a  letter  of  Mrs.  J.  C.  Croly,  author  of  "The  History  of  the 
Woman's  Club  Movement  in  America,"  will  be  interesting  tes- 
timony. 

NEW  YORK  STATE  FEDERATION  OF  WOMEN'S  CLUBS  AND 

SOCIETIES. 

September  15,  1896. 

My  dear  Mrs.  Severance:— Perhaps  you  will  have  noticed  by  the 
report  of  the  G.  F.  W.  C.,  that  it  has  been  assigned  to  me  to  write  the 
history  of  the  club  movement.  My  object  in  sending  you  this  trouble- 
some letter  is  to  ask  you  for  a  brief  resumS  of  the  true  inwardness  of 
the  beginning  of  the  New  England  Woman's  Club.  I  have  two  sketches, 
printed  at  different  times,  which  widely  differ.  Mrs.  Diaz  gave  another 
version  with  the  names  of  the  men  at  first  associated  with  it,  at  Bay 
View,  Mich.,  last  summer. 

I  wrote  to  Mrs.  Alice  Ives  Breed,  and  she  wrote  me  back  that  I  had 
given  her  a  very  difficult  task;  that  one  after  another,  Mrs.  Cheney  and 
other  leaders  to  whom  she  had  applied,  had  referred  her  to  some  one  else; 
but  every  one  had  been  "supremely  indifferent"  and  didn't  care  about 
it  one  way  or  another.  I  only  want  the  truth  of  history.  You  were  the 
first  president,  and  your  character  is  such  that  the  word  from  you  will 
be  accepted  as  indisputable. 

I  have  only  a  line  in  which  to  say  that  certain  representative  clubs 
will  receive  special  attention.  Among  these  is  the  "Friday  Morning 
Club."  Will  you  be  so  good  as  to  present  my  requirement  of  a  brief, 


C6e   Sgot&er    of   Clu6»  IT 


but  intelligent  summary,  of  the  Club's  life,  work,  methods;  its  great 
leaders  and  founder — photos  or  block  pictures  of  them,  and  also  club 
insignia,  colors,  and  motto,  if  it  has  any;  or  any  picture  of  club  rooms, 
library  or  outgrowth. 

Dear  Mrs.  Severance,  please  send  me  your  own  picture,  not  only  as 
founder,  but  as  one  of  the  first  club  women  in  America,  and  if  you  could 
accompany  it  with  an  outdoor,  or  indoor,  glimpse  of  your  California  home, 
it  shall  be  reproduced,  in  order  to  give  an  environment  of  which  I  have 
heard  a  fascinating  description. 

If  you  have  any  printed  sketch  of  your  own  life,  I  shall  be  most 
grateful  for  it.  The  vast  correspondence  this  work  entails,  and  the  very 
short  time  allotted  for  it,  must  be  my  excuse  for  killing  as  many  birds 
as  possible  with  one  stone.  Any  suggestions,  or  any  help  from  anyone, 
in  the  interest  of  a  faithful  record,  I  shall  be  most  grateful  for. 

With  warm  admiration  and  a  life-long  regard,  I  am,  really  and  sin- 
cerely yours,  J.  C.  CKOLY. 

There  are  numerous  other  opinions  as  to  the  value  of  the  club 
movement  in  America,  which  Madame  Severance  keenly  appre- 
ciates. One  of  these  is  from  the  pen  of  her  life-long  friend, 
Olive  Thome  Miller: 

1  'The  more  one  thinks  upon  the  state  of  public  opinion  a 
quarter  of  a  century  ago,  the  more  one  is  impressed  with  the 
bravery  of  the  two  little  groups  of  women  in  Boston  and  in  New 
York,  who  dared  to  form  a  Woman's  Club.  Never  in  the  his- 
tory of  the  world  has  there  been  an  institution  that  has  done  so 
much  for  women,  and  its  work  is  only  begun.  And  how  wisely 
they  did  it,  too,  in  their  different  lines !  Women  will  yet  crown 
these  sisters  who  caught  the  first  gleams  of  the  rising  sun  of 
womanhood,  crystallized  their  hopes,  their  ambitions,  their 
prophecies,  in  the  Woman's  Club.  Its  progress  is  a  stately 
march  down  the  ages  with  which,  sooner  or  later,  every  woman 
will  keep  step,  and  with  results  to  the  race  which  no  one  can 
predict. " 

Octave  Thanet  writes:  "The  women's  clubs  consist  of  the 
picked  women  of  the  country,  who  have  position,  wealth,  brains 
and  culture  and  the  trained  ability  to  use  it  all  to  the  last  inch 
of  value.  This  tremendous  power  is  called  into  being  at  a  time 
full  of  great  and  terrible  problems.  The  century  will  soon  see 


is  Cl)e    £0oti)tr    of    Clubs 

enormous  changes.  *  *  *  *  Here  comes  in  the  burden  of  the 
woman,  as  well  as  of  our  brothers,  *  *  *  *  but  the  work  of  the 
women  must  be  intelligent  and  well  directed." 

The  commendation  of  Jacob  Riis  greatly  pleases  Madame 
Severance:  "I  find  women's  clubs  a  great  moral  force;  some- 
times the  only  conspicuous  moral  force  in  a  city ;  when  there  is 
no  moral  grip  on  anything,  a  woman 's  club  furnishes  it. ' ' 

On  a  recent  visit  to  El  Nido,  Madame  Severance's  home,Char- 
lotte  Perkins  Stetson  wrote:  "The  essential  benefit  of  the 
woman's  club  is  that  it  trains  women  in  'team'  work,— in  the 
great  human  force  of  organization.  Whether  the  club  is  large 
or  small,  whether  it  works  for  civic  improvement  or  to  under- 
stand poetry,  its  effort  is  organized  effort;  its  aim,  a  common 
end.  Therefore,  the  woman  whose  range  of  life  was  wholly  per- 
sonal, learns  gradually  to  enter  human  relationships,  to  care 
for  the  general  good,  and  to  work  for  it. 

"If  the  women  in  a  club  behave  foolishly,  are  childishly  sensi- 
tive, irrational,  just  remember  they  were  that  before  in  the 
home-life  that  made  them  so ;  and  that  if  they  had  not  joined 
the  club,  they  could  not  have  grown  beyond  these  follies." 

Her  friend,  Mary  Newberry  Adams  has  written: 

"If  I  wanted  to  make  a  club  take  hold  with  interest  on  so- 
cial affairs  and  civil  reform,  I  would  recommend  to  it  the 
study  of  civics,  as  influenced  by  women;  what  I  call  'matriot- 
Ism,'  which  includes  education,  religion,  industrial  art  and 
arts;  while  the  study  of  patriotism  is  law,  war,  government, 
finance,  building,  and  so  on.*  *  *  *  The  clubs  are  so  numerous 
and  so  interlocked  in  their  interests,  yet  each  having  an  individ- 
ual character  of  its  own,  that  one  must  go  often  and  stay  long 
to  enjoy  them.  The  clubs  are  an  'institution*  now,  like  the 
church,— a  post-graduate  course  for  college,  a  rendezvous  to 
discuss  social  questions." 

It  has  been  a  great  pleasure  to  the  editor  to  search  for  bi- 
ographical, scientific,  physiological  and  psychical  facts  concern- 
ing Madame  Severance;  and  in  this  estimate  and  appreci- 
ation, she  attempts  to  speak  for  hundreds  of  men  and  women 


MADAME  SEVERANCE  IN  THE  EMERSON  CORNER  OF 
THE  EDITOR'S  HOME. 


€f)c    CQotber    of    Clubs  19 

who,  for  long  years,  have  known  the  "Mother  of  Clubs "  as  an 
individual  and  by  her  wide  reputation. 

In  her  eighty-seventh  year,  with  mind  still  active,  eager  and 
alert,  Madame  Severance  is  a  center  of  light  for  those  who  are 
in  sympathy  with  the  broadest  humanitarian  impulses,  who  love 
the  loftiest  literature  and  who  believe  in  the  highest  life. 

ELLA  GILES  RUDDY. 
Los  Angeles,  1904. 


Note.— The  thanks  of  Madame  Severance  and  the  editor  are 
due  Miss  Rose  L.  Ellerbe  for  her  invaluable  aid  in  the  prepara- 
tion of  this  volume. 


"No  country  seems  to  owe  so  much  to 
its  women  as  America — to  owe  to  them 
so  much  of  what  is  best  in  its  social 
institutions  and  in  the  beliefs  that 
govern  conduct." 

— Prof.  James  Bryce. 


THE  GENESIS  AND  PURPOSE  OF  THE  CLUB  IDEA. 
A  PAPEE  BY  MADAME  SEVEEANCE. 

(Printed  in  the  Eighties.) 

A  hope  begun 

In  doubt  and  darkness  'neath  a  fairer  sun 
Cometh  to  fruitage,  if  it  be  of  Truth; 
And  to  the  law  of  meekness,  faith  and  ruth, 

By  inward  sympathy,  shall  all  be  won. 

—James  Eussell  Lowell. 

For  many  years  I  have  been  entreated  by  my  friends  to  put  on 
permanent  record  my  memory  of  the  beginnings  of  club-life 
for  the  women  of  our  country.  To  make  a  satisfactory  record, 
I  must  begin  with  the  advent  of  the  club-idea  in  my  own  mind 
in  the  early  fifties  while  living  in  Cleveland.  The  first  fifteen 
years  of  my  married  life  were  passed  in  that  city,  which  was 
then  a  frontier  town,  with  schools  and  churches  galore,  and 
with  a  Library  Association,  but  with  few  intellectual  resources 
beyond  these. 

I  hailed,  therefore,  with  delight  the  coming  to  our  lecture 
platforms  of  eminent  wise  men  and  women  from  the  East.  I 
was  especially  attracted  and  influenced  by  Emerson  and  by 
Bronson  Alcott,  for  whom  we  arranged  parlor  meetings,  their 
themes  being  on  too  lofty  a  plane  of  scholarship  and  thought 
to  win  them  popular  audiences.  Alcott  was  often  my  guest, 
and  on  these  occasions  we  talked  far  into  the  night  of  the  group 
of  men  and  women  who  had  made  New  England  and  Boston 
famous  in  the  world  of  letters,  morals,  and  unfettered  thought. 
I  betrayed  to  our  Plato  my  inextinguishable  longing  to  ex- 
change Ohio  for  Massachusetts,  as  a  place  of  residence,  in  order 
to  gain  the  advantage  of  Harvard  for  my  sons  and  of  the  best 
schools  for  my  daughter,  as  well  as  to  gratify  my  own  desire 

21 


22  Cfte    fit&otfier    of    Clu&$ 

to  "touch,  if  only  with  extremest  flounce,  the  circle"  of  noble 
women.  He  replied  that  if  I  wished  to  live  in  Boston  for  its 
broader  and  finer  atmosphere,  I  would  not  be  disappointed ;  but 
that  my  hope  to  meet  easily  the  wise  women  in  literature,  re- 
form work,  and  so  on,  would  not  be  realized,  for  they  were  wide- 
ly scattered  in  different  circles,  churches  and  suburbs.  In  my 
zeal  I  argued,  and  finally  convinced  him,  that  it  might  not  be 
impossible  to  bring  these  noble  women  together  on  some  com- 
mon ground  of  fellowship  and  service.  On  his  visits  thereafter, 
and  later  in  Boston,  Mr.  Alcott,  with  his  ardent  faith  in  woman 
and  her  limitless  sphere  of  activity  and  influence,  was  the  stead- 
fast friend  of  club-life  for  women. 

I  cannot  say  confidently,  after  this  lapse  of  time,  and  in  the 
absence  of  data,  whether  this  idea  of  the  possibilities  and  gains 
of  club  life  for  women  came  to  me  from  the  fact  of  the  exist- 
ence of  men's  clubs,  or  whether  I  was  then  aware,  through  the 
" English  Woman's  Journal,"  edited  by  Emily  Faithful,  of  the 
formation  of  clubs  for  women  in  England.  However  that  may 
be,  when  in  1855  we  left  Cleveland  for  Boston,  I  went  with  this 
hope  hid  in  my  heart,  and  for  this— and  for  other  high  reasons 
—with  an  ecstacy  of  expectation  for  our  future,  seldom  ex- 
ceeded by  any  "passionate  pilgrim"  to  the  shrines  of  Mecca, 
Lourdes  or  Palestine. 

During  the  three  years  of  settling  into  the  new  home  and  life, 
and  finding  my  footing  socially  as  chance  offered,  I  began  to 
agitate  gently  the  club  idea.  My  early  membership  on  the 
board  of  the  New  England  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children 
deepened  my  desire  for  closer  fellowship  with  the  rare  women 
with  whom  I  was  associated;  gave  me  manifold  opportunities 
for  discussing  the  project  so  dear  to  me,  and  made  more  evident 
the  need  for  a  quiet  and  central  place  where  friends  might 
meet  informally,  and  thus  avoid  the  waste  of  time  and  strength 
involved  in  going  from  one  suburb,  crossing  the  city  in  a  slow 
omnibus,  and  catching  a  train  to  another  suburb,  perhaps  to 
find  a  friend  going  through  the  same  useless  process.  For 
we  had  no  telephones  or  "at  home"  days  then. 


Cfte   £@otfcer    of   Clubs 


The  engrossing  preparations  for  service  during  the  civil  war 
were  upon  us,  while  we  were  still  active  in  the  broadening  field 
of  our  hospital  enterprise,  and  many  women,  of  all  circles,  de- 
voted themselves  unsparingly,  as  elsewhere  throughout  the  land, 
to  the  work  of  the  "Sanitary  Commission,"  the  "Freedman's 
Bureau/'  etc.  When  the  stress  of  that  terrible  experience  was 
passed,  many  women  who  had  discovered  their  own  capacity  for 
public  effort,  and  learned  the  lesson  of  working  harmoniously 
together  for  common  interests  and  aims,  were  prepared  and  in- 
clined, to  put  the  same  faculties  to  use  in  other  urgent  special 
ways.  And  thus  our  chats  over  the  club  idea  as  a  possibility 
came  to  action  in  a  series  of  parlor  meetings. 

Among  others  with  whom  I  had  discussed  the  possibilities 
was  Dr.  Harriot  K.  Hunt,  who  had  won  by  her  personal  ability 
and  success  a  large  practice  under  a  title  which  no  medical 
school  would  then  confer.  She  opened  her  home  for  some  of 
our  earliest  meetings  to  consider  the  project.  Mrs.  Harriet 
Winslow  Sewall  and  her  sympathetic  husband  also  opened  their 
picturesque  country  home  for  our  meetings.  Lucy  Goddard, 
a  brilliant  woman  and  most  helpful  member  of  James  Freeman 
Clarke's  "Church  of  the  Disciples,"  was  one  of  the  early 
advocates  of  the  idea,  as  was  Abby  May.  Among  the  most 
valued  movers  in  the  cause  was  Dr.  Marie  Zakrzewska,  who 
had  accepted  a  position  on  the  faculty  of  a  so-called  "Woman's 
Medical  College,  on  the  condition  that  a  hospital  should  be 
established  in  which  the  students  could  receive  practical  in- 
struction and  that  some  earnest  friends  of  her  own  should  be 
put  upon  the  board. 

We  had  to  meet,  as  you  may  imagine,  opposition  from  the 
public  and  the  press  and  also  from  some  of  the  husbands,  who 
feared  the  effects  of  club  life  upon  the  interests  of  the  home. 
Husbands  who  had,  no  doubt,  urged  their  wives  into  the  bur- 
densome and  absorbing  war-time  activities,  now  objected  to 
the  new  movement,  possibly  from  a  half-conscious  fear  that  our 
clubs  might  be  modeled  on  the  already  existing  clubs  for  men. 

On  March  10,  1868,  officers  were  elected,  a  constitution 
adopted,  and  systematic  club  life  then  began.  Against  my 


24  c&e    figotjjer    of    Clu60 

earnest  protests  my  name  was  unanimously  proposed  for  pres- 
ident and  I,  who  had  so  slight  claim  to  the  office,  in  past  ex- 
perience or  in  qualifications,  was  obliged  to  face  the  duty 
bravely  in  the  presence  of  Boston  culture  and  of  speakers  and 
guests  of  renown. 

The  title  of  "club"  had  been  chosen  after  considerable  dis- 
cussion as  being  broad,  significant  and  novel,  and  with  the  hope 
and  the  promise  to  the  few  objectors,  that  it  would  be  redeemed 
from  the  objectionable  features  of  many  of  the  clubs  of  men. 
It  was  claimed  to  be  an  escape  from  the  old  special  titles  used 
for  women 's  unions,  in  church  and  other  activities,  while  in- 
clusive of  all  these  within  its  membership,  and  therefore  sig- 
nificant of  a  new  departure  in  fellowship  and  effort.  It  was 
a  ''woman's  club"— an  unknown  quantity  heretofore  and 
therefore  novel.  The  historian  of  the  club  in  searching  for  the 
etymology  of  the  title  found  it  defined  in  Anglo-Saxon  and  in 
German  as  "to  embrace,"  "to  adhere,"  which  well  covers  the 
sincere,  cordial  companionship  and  the  faithful  adherence  of 
the  membership  of  women's  clubs  as  since  developed. 

Club  rooms  were  first  secured  in  quiet,  but  central  Tremont 
Place,  near  to  suburban  trains  and  in  the  rear  of  the  popular 
Tremont  House.  On  May  30,  1868,  the  first  meeting  to  intro- 
duce the  New  England  Woman's  Club  to  the  public  was  held 
in  Chickering  Hall.  At  this  meeting  such  able  friends  and  ad- 
visers as  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  James  Freeman  Clarke, 
Jacob  Manning,  John  Weiss,  0.  B.  Frothingham,  Thomas  Went- 
worth  Higginson,  Bronson  Alcott,  Julia  W.  Howe  and  Mrs.  E. 
D.  Cheney  were  the  speakers. 

The  president  stated  the  purposes  of  the  club  as  "To  organ- 
ize the  social  forces  of  the  women  of  New  England,  now  work- 
ing nobly  in  small  circles  and  in  solitary  ways,  and  to  econ- 
omize time  and  strength  so  valuable  as  theirs  by  making  this 
center  of  thought  and  action,  also  a  center  of  comfort  and  con- 
venience—a larger  home  for  those  who  love  and  labor  for  the 
greater  human  family.  Its  plan  involves  no  special  pledge  to  any 
one  form  of  activity,  but  implies  only  a  womanly  interest  in 


Cftc    £0otfjer    of    Clubs 


all  true  thought  and  effort  on  behalf  of  woman,  and  of  society 
in  general,  for  which  women  are  so  largely  responsible." 

Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe  added  that,  "Although  seemingly 
feeble,  we  are  the  suggestion  of  a  mighty  theme,"  and  spoke 
of  the  need  of  combining  "recreation  with  the  pursuit  of  wis- 
dom." Mrs.  E.  D.  Cheney  spoke  of  the  comforts  of  the  club 
to  the  lonely,  in  city  and  suburb,  and  of  its  proposed  useful 
work  in  a  registry  of  women  seeking  the  so-called  higher  occu- 
pations, and  of  providing  rooms  for  women  who  came  to  Boston 
for  concerts,  operas  lectures,  and  so  on.  Singularly  enough,  our 
scholarly  brothers,  Weiss  and  Frothingham,  while  endorsing 
the  social  and  intellectual  features  of  the  program,  emphasized, 
most  strongly  the  material  side  in  the  registry,  and  the  dealing 
with  the  servant  question. 

The  program  first  adopted  for  the  New  England  Woman's 
Club  will  show  its  scope  and  activities.  The  meetings  were 
held  upon  Mondays.  The  first  Monday  of  the  month  was  de- 
voted to  the  committee  on  "Art  and  Literature,"  of  which 
Mrs.  Howe  was  chairman.  The  session  was  followed  by  a  simple 
tea,  which  function  was  made  memorable  by  the  brilliant  bon- 
mots  of  its  presiding  officer,  and  the  prose,  poetry  and  repartee 
of  other  members.  The  committees  on  Work,  Education  and 
Discussion,  filled  the  succeeding  Mondays  and  the  occasional 
fifth  Monday  was  given  over  to  the  Recreation  committee  which 
provided  entertainments  in  the  club  rooms,  or,  in  summer  time, 
delightful  picnic  parties  at  the  beautiful  country  homes  of  the 
members,  or  in  quiet  groves  within  reach  of  Boston. 

Among  the  accomplishments  of  this  club  during  the  busy 
years  of  its  existence  have  been  many  worthy  of  more  than 
passing  note.  One  of  the  first  of  these  was  the  establishment  of 
a  Horticultural  School,  for  women^  in  which  the  pupils  erected 
their  own  greenhouses  and  painted  the  buildings ;  which  school 
was  later  merged  into  the  "Bussey,"  a  department  of  Harvard. 

The  efforts  of  the  club  secured  the  passage  of  the  first  school- 
suffrage  law  in  the  country.  This  permitted  women  to  be 
elected  as  members  of  the  Boston  school  board,  and  of  other 


26  cfee    ^otftet    of 


school  boards.  Under  it,  two  members  of  the  club  held  office 
as  school  supervisors  for  many  years.  The  club  aided,  by 
funds  and  helpers,  in  the  establishment  of  the  New  England 
Hospital  for  Women  and  Children,  which  was  officered  and  man- 
aged by  women,  with  eminent  doctors  of  the  other  sex  as  con- 
sulting physicians.  In  co-operation  with  the  Honorable  Josiah 
Quincy,  Dr.  Bowditch  and  others,  the  club  joined  in  the  incor- 
poration of  a  "Co-operative  Building  Association,"  to  which 
our  able  member,  Abby  May,  gave  most  earnest  work  as  an 
official.  This  Association  proved  to  be  a  safe  business  venture, 
even  at  low  rates  of  interest,  and  a  great  assistance  to  the  poor 
but  self-respecting  wage-earner,  as  well  as  an  object  lesson 
to  the  philanthropists  of  other  cities. 

The  club  also  provided  scholarships  in  Boston  and  other 
Universities,  for  studious  young  women;  aided  in  the  noble 
work  of  its  honorary  member,  "Saint  Elizabeth"  Peabody,  in 
establishing  the  Kindergarten  system ;  and  used  its  weighty  in- 
fluence to  promote  the  higher  education  of  women,  one  of  the 
means  employed  being  the  sending  out  of  circulars  through- 
out the  state,  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  the  Girl's  Latin 
School,  of  Boston. 

In  legislation  the  New  England  Woman's  Club  began  the  agi- 
tation which  resulted  in  the  appointment  of  police  matrons  in 
the  large  cities;  of  a  needed  change  in  the  "age  of  consent" 
law;  and  placed  women  on  the  boards  of  all  public  in- 
stitutions. A  notable  result  of  the  latter  law  was  the  astonish- 
ingly successful  career  of  Mrs.  Johnson,  as  superintendent  of 
the  Sherborne  prison  for  women.  Homes  of  detention  for 
women  were  also  a  result  of  the  action  of  the  club. 

It  aided  the  fund  of  the  Egyptian  Exploration  society, 
joined  the  Archaeological  Institute  of  Greece,  and  abetted  the 
efforts  of  the  New  York  Society  for  the  suppression  of  ob- 
scene literature. 

After  a  most  impressive  address  by  our  honorary  member, 
Elizabeth  Stuart  Phelps,  on  "Reform  in  Dress,"  of  which  her 
own  simple  and  suitable  clothing  was  a  consistent  example,  the 


e   Qiotfcer    of   Clu60  27 


club  ventured  on  a  hazardous  crusade  by  forming  a  committee, 
of  which  the  president  was  chairman,  Dr.  and  Mrs.  Dio  Lewis 
and  Dr.  Mary  Safford,  the  latter  an  active  worker  on  the  San- 
itary commission,  were  members,  with  our  clever  Abby  Gould 
Woolson  as  secretary  and  historian.  This  committee  prepared 
designs  for  a  healthful  and  sensible  dress,  which  were  ap- 
proved by  the  club  officials,  by  artists  and  by  physicians,  and 
which  created  so  much  interest  when  exhibited,  that  church 
parlors  and  vestries  were  thrown  open  for  further  exhibits  and 
two  eminent  physicians  declined  to  treat  patients  who  would 
not  wear  these  garments.  The  committee  found  itself  an  invol- 
untary bureau  of  correspondence  and  advice,  receiving  inquiries 
from  far  and  near;  it  opened  a  sales-room  for  the  reform  gar- 
ments and  the  business,  when  well  established,  was  successfully 
disposed  of.  So  the  movement  grew  and  prospered  and  the 
words  " dress  reform,"  so  long  reviled,  became  honorable  and 
their  copyright  saleable. 

But  alas  for  the  millennium  which  we  saw  in  the  near  future ! 
We  reckoned  without  our  despotic  host,— Fashion.  She  soon 
changed  all  that  and  only  left  us,  as  one  of  its  temporary  loans, 
the  short  skirt  for  outdoor  sports. 

Aside  from  its  outside  work,  the  club  arranged  classes  in 
English  literature,  languages,  etc.;  as  early  as  1876  it  had 
classes  in  political  economy,  and  in  1891  formed  a  "Current 
Topics"  class.  The  discussion  under  these  various  topics  shows 
a  wide  range  of  interest  and  courageous  hospitality ;  club  mem- 
bers listened  to  experts  upon  such  subjects  as  Political  Devel- 
opment, Railroad  Laws,  Prohibition  Laws,  George's  "Progress 
and  Poverty,"  Sumner's  "Obligations  of  the  Social  Class," 
Bryce's  "American  Commonwealth,"  Socialism  of  Today,  Mun- 
icipal Reform,  Rent,  The  Lobby  System,  The  Silver  Question, 
Food  Waste,  Prison  Reform,  The  Responsibility  of  the  Em- 
ployer and  the  Employed,  as  well  as  many  special  topics  bear- 
ing upon  the  standing  of  woman  and  her  influence  in  all  depart- 
ments of  human  activity. 

Charming  receptions  were  given  by  the  club  for  Monsieur  Co- 
querel,  Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  Emily  Faithful,  Mary  Car- 


Cfte   6©ot6er    of   Clubg 


penter,  Lord  and  Lady  Amberly ;  for  Harriet  Hosmer  and  Anne 
Whitney,  our  women  sculptors;  Professor  Maria  Mitchell  and 
Dr.  Parsons,  the  Dante  scholar;  Professors  Pierce  and  Gould, 
Dr.  Edward  Everett  Hale,  Professor  John  Fiske,  and  endless 
other  notables.  Anniversaries  and  silver  weddings  of  the  mem- 
bers were  celebrated,  and  memorial  services  for  many  dis- 
tinguished personages  were  held.  This  diversity  of  activities 
and  of  sympathy  illustrates  well  the  broad  purpose  and  intent 
of  the  originators  of  club-life  for  American  women. 

The  first  president  continued  in  office  until  1875,  although 
her  absence  in  the  south  and  in  Washington  made  the  vice- 
president  the  presiding  officer  for  the  last  two  years  of  this 
time.  Upon  her  departure  for  California  in  1875,  Mrs.  Julia 
Ward  Howe  was  made  president  of  the  New  England  Woman 's 
Club,  and  she  still  continues  graciously  to  honor  the  office. 

An  amiable  controversy  still  lingers  among  us  over  the  date 
of  the  earliest  Woman's  Club  in  our  country.  I  beg  to  refer 
you  for  its  settlement  to  the  records  as  given  in  Mrs.  Croly's 
"Club  Movement  in  America/'  For  myself,  my  non  arithmetic- 
al mind  falters  before  the  somewhat  rambling  dates  given 
there  as  the  real  birthday  of  the  New  York  Sorosis.  They  seem 
to  indicate  a  slight  difference  only,  in  days  or  in  weeks,  between 
its  birth  and  that  of  the  New  England  Woman's  Club.  Kate 
Field  reported  to  the  New  York  women,  in  a  complimentary 
way,  that  the  "  Boston  women  are  already  in  action  and  know 
what  they  want."  But  no  date  to  this  letter  is  given.  The  title 
of  the  "twin  clubs"  was  given  to  the  two  organizations  later 
by  a  witty  member  of  the  Century  Club  of  San  Francisco.  For 
myself,  I  am  quite  content  to  be  called,  with  the  honored 
Jennie  Croly,  one  of  the  grandmothers  of  our  first  Woman's 
Clubs,— now  distanced  by  the  prosperity  and  numbers  of  their 
brilliant  progeny.  The  seed  thus  sown  has  been  nurtured  by 
our  successors  until  its  branches  cover  all  the  cities  and  byways 
of  the  land. 

The  Federation  of  Women's  Clubs,— an  almost  countless 
number—  has  an  immense  personal  membership  and  is,  there- 
fore, a  power  for  good  which  is  almost  limitless,  to  which 


Cfte   figjot&er    of   Clu60  29 


nothing  can  be  impossible  if  it  once  joins  hands  and  hearts. 
This  was  foreseen  and  longed  for  by  the  founders.  The  clubs 
of  Denver,  Chicago,  Philadelphia,  New  Orleans  and  many  other 
localities,  are  now  recognized  as  faithful  and  able  factors  in 
the  service  of  their  communities,  and  we  may  add  to  this  list 
the  clubs  of  our  beloved— and  needy— Los  Angeles. 

May  our  children  and  our  race  reap  the  fruitage  of  all  this 
early  and  faithful  sowing! 


H. 

FROM  BOSTON  TO  LOS  ANGELES. 

Born  of  the  oldest  East,  I  seek  only  rest, 
In  the  fair  city  of  the  youngest  west. 

—Charles  Warren  Stoddard. 

The  history  of  the  New  England  Woman's  Club  was  written 
by  its  own  official  historian,  Julia  A.  Sprague,  and  published 
by  Lee  and  Shepard,  Boston,  in  1894.  She  wrote : 

"We  gave  a  farewell  luncheon  to  our  first  president,  Mrs. 
Caroline  M.  Severance,  when,  in  1875  she  left  us  for  what  was 
then  far  away  California ;  and  in  1881  we  greeted  with  joy  her 
return  visit." 

Among  the  incidents  of  this  reception  is  mentioned  a  remin- 
iscence in  verse ;  from  the  amusing  stanzas  may  be  culled  four 
lines : 

There  Severance,  Howe  and  Cheney  sat; 

Peabody,  Woolson,  Brown, 
While  Kendall,  May  and  Sewell  led 

The  converse  up  and  down. 

Since  those  days  other  women,  not  so  famous,  but  undoubt- 
edly quite  as  sparkling  in  a  social  sense,  have  been  the  shining 
constellations  revolving  around  the  central  spirit,  as  the  found- 
er and  first  president  of  the  Friday  Morning  Club,  of  Los  An- 
geles, in  1891.  It  is  the  successor  to  an  earlier  Woman's  Club, 
which  Mrs.  Severance  had  founded  and  which  lapsed  during 
her  two  absences  in  the  east. 

Those  occasions  in  Boston  when  Mrs.  Severance  and  Mrs. 
Rebecca  Spring,  of  Los  Angeles,  were  present,  have  been  vividly 
recalled  more  than  once  for  the  edifying  pleasure  of  large 
circles  of  men  and  women  who  enjoy  hearing  of  the  poets,  phil- 
osophers and  philanthropists  of  early  American  history  from 


€I)C     QDOtftCC     Of     CIU&0  31 


eye-witnesses  and  ear-listeners.  Those  were  times  of  delight 
and  of  trial,— days  of  "  wisdom,  wit  and  indignation,  that  are 
unforgettable,"— terms  used  by  Emerson  in  quite  another 
channel,  but  which  may  be  appropriate  in  connection  with  Mrs. 
Severance's  knowledge  of  literary,  philosophical,  and  emanci- 
pation beginnings  in  New  England. 

But  what  was  there  in  the  character  of  the  Mother  of  Clubs 
that  made  her  what  is  sometimes  called  a  creative,  historical 
influence?  It  was  her  supreme  desire  to  serve;  "Heart-life  is- 
suing in  helpfulness,"  as  another  has  expressed  it.  She  was 
not  seeking  to  distinguish  herself  above  other  women,  but  to 
carry  forward  certain  high  purposes  through  those  to  whom 
she  looked  up;  and  to  be  a  quiet,  impelling  force,  and  to  in- 
spire concentrated  usefulness,  by  enkindling  their  best  thought 
and  extending  it.  If  there  were  any  personal  gain  for  herself, 
it  was  to  come  through  the  conscious  happiness  of  helpfulness. 

Says  the  above-named  historian  of  the  first  club,  after  all 
evidence  widely  considered,  and  referring  to  Mrs.  Severance, 
"There  are  a  few  private  letters  which  have  been  preserved, 
that  show  her  anxiety  to  do  the  right  thing  to  insure  success  to 
the  new  cause,  and  they  are  examples  of  the  purest  unselfish- 
ness. ' ' 

The  editor  of  this  volume  has  in  her  possession  several  letters 
exchanged  among  Boston  women  of  the  long-ago,  who  are  loyal 
to  their  first  club  leader.  Some  of  them  have  not  enjoyed  see- 
ing credit  misapplied ;  but  they  all  show  breadth  of  spirit ;  and 
while  true  to  Mrs.  Severance,  as  they  believe  the  mother  of  all 
American  women's  clubs,  they  express  due  appreciation  of  her 
talented  successors  and  contemporaries. 

Of  the  farewell  entertainment  given  in  honor  of  its  first  pres- 
ident by  the  New  England  Woman's  Club,  there  are  many  ac- 
counts. She  was  about  to  leave  for  what  Emerson  had  called 
the  "new  and  unapproachable  west."  It  was  a  goodly  com- 
pany, indeed,  that  gathered  to  bid  the  travelers  God-speed. 
Mary  A.  Livermore,  Elizabeth  Peabody,  Bronson  and  Louisa 
Alcott,  Lucy  Stone,  James  Freeman  Clarke,  William  Lloyd  Gar- 


32          Cfte   Qgotfter    of 


rison,  Ednah  D.  Cheney  and  Julia  Ward  Howe,  were  among 
the  illustrious  men  and  women  who  thus  expressed  apprecia- 
tion of  their  fellow-philanthropist. 

Those  who  realize  how  many  avenues  of  usefulness  have  been 
opened  in  Los  Angeles  through  the  direct  influence  of  Madame 
Severance,  can  testify  to  the  fulfilment  of  Mrs.  Livermore's 
prophecy;  when  voicing  the  regret  of  Mrs.  Severance's  co- 
workers  at  losing  her,  she  is  reported  as  saying,  "  We  can  better 
spare  her  when  we  think  that  we  are  sending  Mrs.  Severance 
forth  as  a  pioneer  among  western  women,  in  the  line  of  club 
and  other  work,  for  the  cause  of  humanity  at  large." 

A  letter  written  by  Madame  Severance  to  the  New  England 
Women's  Club,  in  May,  1881,  evidently  previous  to  her  first 
return  there,  shows  the  depth  of  her  love  and  loyalty  to  it  : 

'  'Dear  friends:—  I  stretch  my  eyes  and  my  hands  longingly 
toward  you.  My  heart  bounds  to  be  with  you  during  this  jubi- 
lee week  of  the  New  England  year.  But  it  is  not  wise  to  forego 
just  yet  the  quiet  and  rest  of  my  California  exile.  *  *  The  club  is 
only  a  larger  home  which  welcomes  and  harmonizes  ;  it  strives 
to  bring  into  broader  and  finer  relations  to  each  other  all  vari- 
eties of  taste,  temperament  and  purpose,  so  these  be  only  help- 
ful and  noble.  While  nothing  human  is  foreign  to  its  sym- 
pathies, the  vital  interests  of  woman  and  the  home  lie  nearest 
to  its  heart  and  prompt  its  efforts." 

The  manifold  papers  and  letters  written  by  Madame  Sever- 
ance for  the  Boston  clubs  and  journals  are  all  silent  proofs  of 
her  intense  desire  to  realize  the  high  calling  of  women  ;  to  see 
them  utilize  to  the  full,  "not  only  the  new  opportunities  of  their 
club  life  for  social  development  within  that  life,  but  to  make  all 
this  helpful  to  the  outside  world  for  civic  betterment." 

Indeed,  Madame  Severance  has  said  that  she  is  prone  to  make 
a  pulpit  of  her  platform  and  often  suspects  that  her  listeners 
may  recall  the  reply  of  Charles  Lamb  to  Coleridge  when  asked 
if  he  had  ever  heard  him  preach.  "I've  never  heard  you  do 
anything  else,"  Lamb  replied. 


C&e    Q^ot&er    of    CIu60  33 


AN  ADDRESS  OP  MADAME  SEVERANCE  BEFORE  THE  NEW  ENG- 
LAND WOMAN'S  CLUB,  ON  HER  RETURN  VISIT  IN  1881. 

''It  gives  me  unspeakable  pleasure  to  look  once  more  into 
your  friendly  faces ;  to  find  myself  once  more  in  the  atmosphere 
of  your  presence,  and  of  New  England  genuineness  of  character 
and  steadfastness  of  purpose.  Only  the  exiles  from  all  this  can 
comprehend  and  share  the  joy  of  my  return  to  it. 

"Looking  at  our  New  England  Club  through  the  long  vista 
of  such  space  and  contrasts  as  my  late  absence  has  given  me, 
you  will  not  wonder  that  its  value  and  its  blessings  have  grown 
upon  me.  The  public,  the  associated  action  of  women,  is  of  so 
recent  a  date,  and  is,  as  yet,  so  crude  and  ill-balanced,  as  is  all 
transitional  effort,  that  one  turns  with  a  *  Thank  God'  to  the 
refreshment  and  satisfaction  of  a  body  whose  judgment  and 
good  sense  are  not  overcome  by  the  zeal  without  knowledge  of 
the  fanatic;  but  whose  motto,  'never  hasting,  never  resting,' 
is  in  the  line  of  all  true  progress. 

"I  return  to  find  my  pleasant  dream  of  the  'ideal  Club'  as  a 
fellowship  of  women,  as  a  'center  of  unity  of  thought  and 
action'  by  woman  and  for  woman,  coming  to  be  a  reality.  *  * 
*  *  *  The  experiments  of  the  past  few  years,  in  the  free  and 
full  discussion  of  many  valuable  papers  upon  educational  and 
general  topics,  will  inevitably  train  women  to  think  on  their 
feet,  which  is  still  an  uncommon  accomplishment  among  us. 
The  double  purpose  of  the  club— associate  effort  and  counsel, 
and  associate  recreation— is  emphasized,  however  unconscious- 
ly, by  the  very  criticism  we  hear  upon  it.  It  does  offer  and  aims 
to  offer,  both  work  and  rest;  rest,  in  variety  of  work,  or  in 
quiet  sympathy  and  genuine  fellowship  to  those  of  its  already 
overtaxed  members  who  seek  such  relief ;  and  to  the  young  and 
free,  it  offers  work,  such  as  their  capacities  and  tastes  may  in- 
dicate, arranged  and  sanctioned  by  the  more  matronly  and  ex- 
perienced members  of  the  executive  board. 


34          Cfte   Sgot&er    of   Clu60 

"  Certainly  a  dispassionate  observer  of  the  public  action  of 
women  must  often  find  it  difficult  to  pronounce  Mr.  Beecher's 
tremendous  and  emphatic,  'Nevertheless,  brethren,  I  am  in 
favor  of  women  as  helpers  in  our  social  church  meetings.' 
This  was  given  after  the  third  verbatim  repetition  of  a  com- 
monplace and  inconsequent  prayer  by  the  only  woman  who 
had  ventured  to  improve  the  new  opportunity  offered  in  his 
church.  *  *  *  If  we  have  not  yet  solved  all  of  the  difficulties  re- 
lating to  the  position  and  power  of  our  tiers  etat,  of  our  large 
membership,  some  of  whom  are  as  yet  unknown  to  us,  and  in  a 
measure  unwilling  to  be  drafted  into  any  form  of  service,  it  is 
because  we  are  aiming  to  prevent  our  work  and  our  purpose 
from  being  thwarted  by  rash,  tyrannic  impulse. 

1  'It  were  well,  it  seems  to  me,  to  disabuse  the  public  mind 
of  the  impressions  that  have  gained  currency  somewhat,  name- 
ly: that  our  Club  is  a  center  of  formidable  criticism  and  of 
overpowering  intellectual  effort ;  that  it  is  devoted,  or  commit- 
ted to  any  one  idea  or  purpose;  that  it  is  intended  to  be  ex- 
clusive and  is  unnecessarily  difficult  of  access.  Formed,  as  you 
all  know,  on  the  basis  of  the  broadest  fellowship,  inviting  and 
welcoming  thinkers  of  all  schools,  workers  in  all  departments 
of  philanthropic  effort,  and  believers  of  all  forms  of  faith,  this 
Club  has  striven,  and  will  strive,  to  make  no  one  topic  or  inter- 
est paramount;  welcoming  all,  it  commits  itself  and  its  mem- 
bers to  none. 

"It  is  neither  an  intellectual  center  solely,  nor  an  artistic 
nor  a  philanthropic  center.  It  is  an  effort  to  realize  a  true 
union  of  women— of  women  whose  convictions  and  relations  may 
be  as  unlike  as  can  be  conceived,  but  to  whom  nothing  that 
concerns  woman  and  the  interests  of  society  and  the  home,  is 
foreign.  When  once  this  central  purpose  is  well  apprehended 
by  the  public,  we  may  hope  that  to  the  clubs  will  gravitate,  by  a 
natural  and  inevitable  magnetism,  the  questions  that  await 
solution  at  the  hands  of  womankind;  and  also  will  come  the 
women  of  anxious  interest  and  intelligent  convictions  upon 
these  problems. 


Cf)t    a3otl)er    of    £Iub0  35 

"That  it  is  not  difficult  of  access  to  such  women,  is  shown  by 
the  conditions  of  admission.  *  *  *  * 

"If  we  have  made  blunders  and  have  not  yet  reached  the  best 
methods,  we  may  console  ourselves  with  the  confession  of  one 
of  our  most  uncompromising  reviewers,  '  that  the  race  is  a  race 
of  mistake-makers,'  which  is  only  another  way  of  stating  the 
law  of  growth,  the  divine  process  for  organizations  as  well  as 
for  individuals. 

"I  have  striven,  friends,  as  your  presiding  officer  in  the  past, 
to  recognize  the  many-sided  purpose  and  promise  of  our  Club, 
its  invaluable  possibilities,  and  the  comprehensive  and  catholic 
faith  from  which  it  sprang;  I  have  tried  to  be  receptive  and 
fluent,  not  too  rigid  in  method,  not  too  rash  in  discussion,  that 
thus  the  results  of  our  counsel  and  our  action  might  be  the  more 
representative. " 

At  a  reception  given  by  Madame  Severance  to  the  New  Eng- 
land Woman's  Club,  during  her  visit  in  1882,  she  is  reported  as 
having  confessed  her  fear  that  she  had  been  "too  much  in  a 
trance  of  pleasure  in  Boston  and  elsewhere"  to  do  her  full  share 
in  strengthening  the  hands  of  those  who  had  borne  the  burdens 
of  the  programs,  but  being  "neither  'impromptu  by  nature'  nor 
a  college  graduate  with  faultless  training  for  ready  speech," 
she  had  done  what  she  could  in  other  ways.  She  said  at  that 
time.  "You  all  remember  that  the  pioneers  of  California  be- 
came a  famous  folk  as  '  forty-niners. '  Those  of  us  who  are  Club 
pioneers— we  sixty-niners  for  euphony— have  always  recalled 
with  vivid  delight  the  early  times  when  we  were  a  feeble  folk, 
so  few  that  we  stood  shoulder  to  shoulder  and  heart  to  heart. 
And  I  wish  to  confess  to  you  of  the  larger  Club,  that  we  have 
just  been  attempting  in  an  adjoining  room,  a  small  revival  of 
our  early  love-feasts  at  3,  Tremont  Place. 

' '  We  have  been  reminiscent,  as  elders  will,  but  we  turn  now 
to  salute  the  future  in  you,  our  well-beloved  young  members, 
who  are  so  soon  to  fill  our  vacant  places  and  make  the  his- 
tory of  the  dear  old  Club.  You  will  forgive  me,  I  know,  that 


36          Cf)e   9@otJ)er    of   Clu&g 

I  have  not  been  able  to  include  you  all,  nor  even  all  the  'birth- 
right' members,  in  the  earlier  gathering.  There  are  limitations 
in  all  things  and  I  was  obliged  to  draw  the  line  at  those  with 
whom  I  have  worked  intimately  and  officially  from  the  first, 
with  a  small  staff  of  cupbearers  to  those  Gods  and  Goddesses. 

"But  I  will  promise  you  that  in  1890,  when  we  two  shall  have 
returned  to  celebrate  our  golden  wedding,  we  will  hope  to  call 
the  roll  of  our  sixty-niners  and  eighty-niners  at  a  love  feast  in 
the  fine  new  home  for  which  Mrs.  Cheney  appealed  at  our  an- 
nual meeting. 

"This  should  be  a  home  with  a  hall  ample  for  the  largest 
gatherings  and  for  which  some  woman  scientist  shall  have  solv- 
ed the  vexing  problem  of  ventilation,  the  members  meantime, 
let  us  hope,  having  grown  wise  enough  to  demand  the  life- 
giving  draught,  rather  than  tolerate  as  now,  the  slow  but  dead- 
ly poison  of  bad  air  and  worse  contagion.  It  should  be  a  home 
in  which  shall  be  realized  all  our  early  dreams  for  the  Club: 
a  dainty  restaurant  for  members  and  their  families,  supplied  by 
the  famous  cooking  school  of  our  Club  sister,  Mrs.  Hooper,  who, 
still  young  and  useful,  will  be  aided  by  the  hands  and  heads  she 
has  so  well  trained;  she  will  also  supply  other  trained  helpers, 
we  will  hope,  to  the  placid  descendants  of  the  tormented  house- 
keepers of  today,  helpers  who  shall  know  something  of  the 
chemistry  and  hygienic  value  of  the  food  they  prepare  for  the 
building  up  of  the  bodies  and  souls  of  the  households  they  serve, 
and  who  shall  be  duly  recognized  in  this  high  vocation. 

"It  should  be  a  home  in  which  our  brilliant  and  buoyant  Mrs. 
Diaz  shall  find  her  heart's  desire  in  ample  quarters  for  her  be- 
loved 'Industrial  Union.'  It  should  be  a  home  from  which 
should  come  another  class  of  trained  helpers,  who  will  aid  anx- 
ious, overburdened,  conscientious  mothers,— children's  nurses, 
taught  the  sacred  responsibilities  of  their  high  office  as  workers 
with  God  and  witfi  the  mother  in  the  salvation  of  the  little  in- 
nocents, now  daily  and  nightly  slaughtered  in  the  so-called 
'best  of  homes/  through  ignorance  or  prejudice. 

"Alas,  my  prophetic  soul !    The  sixty-nineps  will  tell  you  that 


Cfie    Q^Ptfiet    of    Clu&s  37 


I  am  at  my  dreaming  again.  Ah,  well  !  As  Emerson  says,  *  our 
highest  hopes  are  the  beginnings  of  their  own  fulfillment.  I 
have  found  it  true  already  as  regards  the  past  of  our  Club  and  I 
shall  find  it  true  yet  more  abundantly  of  its  future,  I  doubt  not. 

"Permit  me  to  verify  another  of  my  claims  for  our  Club,— 
that  it  is,  like  the  old  commonwealth  of  Virginia,  the  mother  of 
Presidents,—  by  calling  the  roll  of  our  suburban  Women's  Clubs 
and  presenting  to  you  such  of  their  presidents  as  are  able  to  be 
with  us  today.  It  is  well  for  you  to  realize,  dear  friends,  how 
many  of  your  members  have  felt  so  keenly  the  gain  in  our  Club 
life  that  they  have  repeated  it  after  this  model,  in  their  own 
town  and  for  their  neighbors.  This  reminds  me  also,  that  on 
my  trip  among  the  Berkshires,  last  summer,  I  chanced  upon 
a  charming  nucleus  of  a  club  of  ten  members,  called  by  the 
kindly  and  simple  name,  the  'Neighbors,'  and  presided  over 
by  our  friend,  Mrs.  Yale,  a  woman  whose  force  and  presence 
were  in  themselves  no  small  part  in  a  liberal  education. 

'  '  We  elders  have  had  our  souls  filled  of  late  by  two  spectacles 
not  common  in  our  early  days.  We  have  seen  with  our  own 
eyes  the  beginning  of  a  fulfillment,  in  the  best  ways,  of  Tenny- 
son's dream  in  his  'Princess.'  How  proud  and  how  happy  we 
were  over  our  girl  graduates  on  their  alumna?  day,  not  long  ago. 
How  full  of  satisfaction  and  of  promise  were  the  closing  exer- 
cises of  Boston  University,  in  Music  Hall,  this  week,  when  'fair 
men'  orators  argued  and  pleaded  with  the  fervor  and  force  of 
our  older  apostles  of  freedom,  for  political  justice  to  the  moth- 
ers and  sisters  of  today;  and  where  'brave'  young  women 
bore  themselves  with  credit  and  dignity  through  the  ordeal  of 
public  speech  before  the  vast,  but  sympathetic,  audience. 

"It  is  our  own  'sweet  girl  graduates'  of  the  Club,  however, 
who  are  most  in  my  mind  today.  I  wish  to  emphasize  my  own 
sincere  interest  and  faith  in  them,  by  a  small  gift  of  such  as  I 
have;  my  son's  'Hammersmith,  His  Harvard  Days,'—  a  vigor- 
ous transcript  of  American  university  life  in  the  past,  which 
may  suggest  to  them  by  contrast,  the  better  conditions  which 
they  have  helped  to  bring  into  it,  the  new  order  in  which  men 


38          Cfte   s@otj)er    of   Clu60 

are  'fair'  and  women  'brave.'  The  book  grew  day  by  day 
under  our  Southern  California  skies,  as  simply  and  as  natur- 
ally as  the  flowers  beneath  them  opened  their  petals  to  the  sun. 
I  take  pleasure  in  presenting  you  these  copies,  my  dear  young 
friends,  through  the  hands  of  my  friend's  daughter,  Alice 
Stone  Blackwell. 

"Only  one  other  duty  of  my  program  remains,  that  of  pre- 
senting to  you  all,  in  response  to  requests  made  long  ago  and 
often  repeated,  and  in  keeping  with  my  desire  to  be  always  with 
you  in  all  proper  and  possible  ways,  a  portrait  of  your  first 
president.  This,  as  is  so  often  the  case  with  her,  I  fear,  is  not 
at  her  best ;  I  hope,  however,  you  may  find  it  a  not  unendurable 
'counterfeit.'  That  it  may  come  into  its  true  order  on  your 
walls,  I  put  it  in  charge  of  my  dear  old-time  and  constant 
friend,  Lucy  Goddard,  who  has,  by  a  sort  of  divine  right,  the 
monopoly  of  your  decorative  art,  but  who  may  need  the  help- 
ing hand  of  those  less  worn  by  service,  so  I  name  with  her 
my  friends,  Mrs.  Kennard  and  Miss  Talbot." 

To  complete  this  record  of  a  most  interesting  event,  as  it 
will  surely  be  considered  by  women  of  the  Federated  Clubs  of 
today,  certain  other  facts  have  been  gathered.  It  was  Miss 
Goddard  who  unveiled  the  crayon  picture  of  Madame  Sever- 
ance. Mrs.  A.  A.  Claflin,  of  Quincy,  responded  on  behalf  of  the 
later  members  of  the  Club,  in  a  felicitous  speech  of  combined 
wit  and  wisdom,  closing  with  a  grateful  tribute  to  the  hostess, 
Madame  Severance,  who  had  been  of  unconscious  service  to  her 
in  her  impressible  young  womanhood.  Madame  Severance  re- 
sponded with  a  toast  to  Julia  Ward  Howe,  "Our  President,  God 
bless  her !  Our  president,  of  whom  the  Club  can  say,  as  Went- 
worth  Higginson  once  said  of  Emerson,  '"We  have  been  brought 
up  on  a  diet  of  Mrs.  Howe,'  and  have  found  it  always  good 
to  take,  good  to  begin  with  at  our  feast,  good  to  end  with ! '  Her 
motto  should  be,  'Semper  parata,'  and  the  other  classic  one, 
whatever  it  may  be,  for  the  always  willing,  with  voice,  pen,  or 
deed." 


Cfte    flgjot&er    of    Clu&s  so 


EXTEACT    FKOM    AN    ADDRESS    BEFORE    THE    NEW    ENGLAND 
WOMAN'S  CLUB  ON  A  LATER  VISIT  TO  BOSTON. 

"Unfortunately  the  wonderland  of  California  has  wrought  no 
miracle  upon  me.  I  am  no  more  gifted  in  speech,  no  more  ready- 
witted  or  eloquent,  and  can,  therefore,  not  reply  on  the  moment 
in  words  fitly  chosen,  to  tributes  like  these. 

"I  can  only  thank  you  from  my  heart  and  give  you  the  plod- 
ding prose  which  I  have  put  upon  paper  in  greeting  and  in  de- 
fense of  what  I  know  your  partiality  would  prompt.  You  can 
scarcely  imagine  what  it  was  to  me,  to  leave  all  this,  to  live 
without  you,  for  these  long  years.  Let  me  say  rather  that  I 
have  lived  upon  the  strength  and  courage  which  came  of  your 
noble  trust  and  appreciation.  These  have  been  my  sure  defense 
in  days  of  self-distrust,  or  in  the  face  of  work  for  which  I  felt 
myself  unfit.  Membership  with  you  has  given  me  the  instant 
entree  of  heart  and  home ;  for  here  we  have  known  that  contact 
of  heart  with  heart  made  wise  by  life's  experiences,  that  tender 
consideration  for  all  honest  striving,  that  sympathy  of  aim 
which  makes  true  fellowship,  and,  supplementing  sweet  home 
affections,  makes  life  worth  living. 

"Here,  too,  we  have  had  the  comedy  of  our  committee  work, 
the  memorable  dress  committee  on  which  some  of  us  served, 
and  the  wit  that  never  wounds,  of  our  spicy  Club  teas  and  poet- 
ical picnics.  Shall  we  ever  cease  to  remember,  and  to  be  merry 
over  it  all? 

* '  I  remain  one  of  the  grandmothers  of  the  Club  who  has  sat  at 
the  feet  of  the  beloved  'grandmother  of  Boston/  Elizabeth 
Peabody,  and  who  is  proud  and  happy  to  have  prepared  the 
way  for  your  present  brilliant  and  accomplished  president. 
Long  may  she  live  to  bless  us  and  the  sex  which  she  has  en- 
nobled by  her  life  and  her  gifts!" 

ADDRESS   OF  MADAME   SEVERANCE    TO   THE    NEW    ENGLAND 
WOMAN'S  CLUB,  ON  A  VISIT  IN  1886. 

"Beloved  friends  of  the  olden  time :— What  a  small  but  prec- 
ious remnant  is  this  of  the  early  band,  whose  faces  always  come 


40  Cbe    £0otlur    of 


thronging  before  me  when  your  annual  gathering  is  near,  or  in- 
deed, at  all  recollections  of  our  New  England  Woman's  Club! 
It  is  you  who  stand  for  that  noble  conclave  now,  you,  the  val- 
iant remnant.  You  bring  to  my  mind  the  dear  ones  in  the  sac- 
red old  haunts,  the  earliest  home  of  the  Club  in  Tremont  Place 
and  the  second  home,  the  spacious  and  historic  Quincy  parlors, 
with  all  their  inspiring  memories  and  their  outlook  upon  the 
grand  old  common. 

"Goddard,  Peabody,  May,  Pitman,  Sewall,  Safford,  Mitchell, 
Lucy  Stone,  Howe,  Livermore,  Cheney,  Diaz,  Zakrzewska,  all 
the  beloved  sisterhood  of  the  pioneer  days,  gifted,  sympathetic— 
and  now  many  of  them  sainted— all  these  are  in  their  wonted 
places  on  platform  and  on  floor,  their  delight  in  the  new  fel- 
lowship uttered  by  eye,  voice  and  handclasp.  And  you  are 
their  precious  heirs. 

1  'Indeed,  that  time  seems  to  me  the  Elizabethan  age  for  New 
England  women,  especially  if  we  include  within  it  the  names  of 
Margaret  Fuller,  Elizabeth  Peabody,  Lydia  Maria  Child  and 
Mrs.  Maria  Chapman— a  royal  anti-slavery  leader.  On  its 
literary  side  this  same  period  of  time  has  well  been  called  New 
England's  'Augustan  age/  At  every  remembrance  of  the 
noble  souls— comrades  and  helpers— of  those  days,  I  thank  God. 

"I  feel  even  now  a  fresh  pang  over  my  own  audacity,— I,  a 
newcomer  from  the  unlettered  west— in  consenting  to  be  put 
at  the  front  in  such  presence  as  that  at  our  Chickering  hall 
meeting  and  in  many  other  gatherings  and  in  allowing  myself 
to  be  persuaded  into  attempting  to  fill  the  place  on  the  Parker 
Fraternity  course  left  vacant  by  our  brilliant  Elizabeth  Cady 
Stanton.  It  brings  a  blush  to  my  cheek  to  recall  this  formidable 
role  for  me— so  untrained  and  ineligible— before  a  Boston  audi- 
ence that  filled  Tremont  Temple  from  floor  to  ceiling.  Only 
a  compelling  enthusiasm  for  bearing  my  personal  testimony 
to  the  convictions  which  burned  within  me,  could  have  so 
blinded  me  to  my  unfitness  and  made  me  submissive  to  the 
wishes  of  my  too  partial  friends. 

"Confession  is  good  for  the  over-burdened  soul,  and  mine  is 


Cfte    aiJot&er    of   Clu60          41 


relieving  itself  of  the  fear  that  any  one  of  you  should  imagine 
me  to  have  been  oblivious  of  my  own  shortcomings,  and  unem- 
barrassed by  the  honors  thrust  upon  me. 

"The  supreme  comfort  to  me  is  that  I  can  rejoice  and  be 
proud  of  the  rapid  results  of  those  early  ventures— the  clubs 
formed  by  women  in  New  England  and  in  New  York— the 
movement  being  almost  simultaneous.  What  harvests  in  all 
fields  are  being  reaped  by  women  from  that  sowing !  Who  can 
set  bounds,  even  to  imagination,  to  the  mighty  influence 
in  all  lands  of  this  organized  womanhood?  The  women's 
clubs  and  the  members  of  the  churches,  the  world  over,  might, 
with  one  united  stroke,  overthrow  the  strongholds  of  vice,  of 
selfish  greed  and  oppression  which  stand  entrenched  in  law 
and  custom  and  defiant  of  human  welfare." 

A  LETTEE  WEITTEN  BY  MADAME  SEVERANCE  FOB  THE  NEW 

ENGLAND  WOMAN'S  CLUB  TO  THE  WOMEN  OF 

ENGLISH  CLUBS,  1871. 

"Dear  English  Sisters:— Whom  having  not  seen,  we  love; 
to  whom  our  hearts  are  knit,  not  only  by  the  ties  of  a  common 
language,  but  by  the  ties  also  of  kindred  womanly  sympathies 
and  aims— we  women  of  the  New  England  Woman's  Club  send 
you  cordial  greeting  and  good  cheer  by  the  hands  of  Rev. 
Ireson,  who  asked  it  of  us  in  the  faith  that  it  would  give  you 
pleasure  and  be  of  mutual  good. 

"We  were  happy  in  hearing  his  words  of  sympathy  and 
encouragement  at  our  Anniversary  meeting  in  this  city  last 
month,  and  we  respond  most  heartily  to  his  suggestion.  We  are 
but  a  small  group  of  New  England  women  who  seek  to  create 
a  true  fellowship  of  women  through  an  organization  founded  on 
no  test  of  creed  or  partisan  purpose,  but  on  our  simple  woman- 
hood and  on  a  generous  hospitality  to  all  ideas  and  efforts 
that  aim  to  advance  the  highest  interests  of  woman  and  through 
her,  of  the  family  and  the  state.  We  combine  in  the  details  of 
our  plan,  rest,  recreation  and  philanthropic  work.  We  seek 
to  give  ourselves  training  in  thinking  together  and  in  giving 
our  thought  adequate  expression.  We  seek  to  bring  into 


42          C  ft  e   S@  o  t  ft  e  r    of   Clubs 

relations  of  sympathy  and  service,  the  women  of  thought  and 
experience  and  of  earnest  purpose  and  the  women  of  leisure 
and  of  aspirations,  and  to  do  this  by  methods  free  from  the 
constraints  and  formalities  of  ordinary  social  intercourse. 

"We  say  a  'fellowship  of  women,'  but  we  do  not  exclude 
men.  We  admit  our  husbands,  sons  and  friends,  as  associate 
members,  to  our  literary  gatherings  and  our  recreations.  We 
welcome  their  counsel  and  sympathy  and  receive  most  valuable 
and  generous  help  from  them.  But,  since  woman  pre-eminently 
needs  the  benefits  of  such  an  organization  and  of  practice  in 
directing  it,  we  wish  them  to  be  free  in  debate  and  in  executive 
detail  from  the  constraining  presence  of  their  more  experienced 
brothers.  Our  short  existence  of  not  more  than  three  years 
has  proven  not  only  one  of  great  pleasure,  but  of  great  profit 
in  its  restful  companionship  and  in  its  quiet,  but  effective  educa- 
tional influence.  It  was  our  wish  at  the  outset  to  put  ourselves 
into  official  relation  with  all  efforts  by  women  and  for  women, 
in  foreign  lands  as  well  as  in  our  own  country.  To  this  end  a 
committee  of  correspondence  was  appointed. 

*'  Through  Mrs.  Lucas,  whom  we  have  found  it  a  great 
pleasure  to  know  as  a  sister  in  good  works,  as  well  as  a  sister  of 
her  honored  brothers,  John  and  Jacob  Bright,  we  shall  send 
to  such  organizations  among  you  as  desire  them,  copies  of  our 
club  reports  and  other  documents.  She  will  explain  these  to 
you  in  detail  and  ask  for  us  a  return  of  your  records  and  plans. 

"We  are  not  altogether  ignorant,  however,  of  many  of  the 
good  deeds  done  among  you.  We  have  felt  the  liveliest  interest 
and  satisfaction  in  the  work  of  many  of  your  excellent  and 
able  women ;  we  have  had  unbounded  admiration  for  Elizabeth 
Barrett  Browning,  Florence  Nightingale,  and  for  your  Somer- 
ville,  Jameson,  Martineau  and  Cobbe— women  who  have  been 
the  peers  of  poets,  thinkers  and  scholars  of  all  time.  We  have 
watched  with  interest  the  efforts  of  your  Social  Science  and 
other  organizations,  for  the  elevation  of  woman  in  the  far  East, 
the  immigration  movement  in  the  provinces,  the  betterment  of 
women  and  children  of  your  needier  classes,  and  not  least,  in 


Cfte    QUotfter    of    Clu60  43 

your  brave  resistance  by  protest  and  petition  to  the  'Contagious 
Disease  Act'  of  your  late  disgraceful  and  demoralizing  legis- 
lation. We  shall  turn  to  your  example  for  suggestion  and  for 
courage,  if  ever  the  same  short-sighted,  partial  methods  are 
sought  to  be  legalized  here. 

"Let  us  add,  also,  that  many  of  us  realize  how  much  the 
present  civil  and  political  status  of  women  affects  injuriously 
their  character,  their  interests  and  their  influence,  and  how 
much  the  state  needs  their  moral  force  organized  into  the  most 
direct  representation  and  protest  against  the  evils  of  society. 
We  hail  with  delight  the  earnest,  dignified  and  effective  work 
done  by  you  in  the  cause  of  woman's  political  enfranchisement 
and  rejoice  that  large  numbers  of  your  noblest  and  best  men 
and  women  have  lent  to  this  cause  names  known  and  honored 
throughout  the  world.  We  believe  that  when  the  divine  instincts 
and  powers  of  women  come  to  their  full  recognition,  the  causes 
of  peace,  of  temperance,  of  human  rights  and  human  brother- 
hood, will  find  their  most  helpful  allies. 

"To  these  ends  wise  and  true  women  are  now  aspiring  and 
working.  Let  us  hope,  dear  sisters,  that  we  may  all  come  into  a 
true  sisterly  rapport— a  real  hand-to-hand,  heart-to-heart  union, 
and  thus  fire  and  consecrate  anew  the  zeal,  the  hope  and  the 
courage  of  each. 

"For  the  New  England  Woman's  Club. 

"CAROLINE  M.  SEVERANCE, 

"President." 
Boston,  June,  1871. 


III. 

THE  WOMAN'S  CLUB  AND  THE  FRIDAY  MORNING  CLUB 
OF  LOS  ANGELES. 

Through  the  influence  of  Madame  Severance,  the  first 
woman's  club  in  Los  Angeles  was  formed  in  1878,  with  herself 
as  president,  and  Mrs.  Charlotte  L.  Wills  as  vice-president,  and 
continued  in  existence — with  one  or  two  lapses  during  the 
absence  of  the  president  in  the  east— until  1887.  In  the  words 
of  Madame  Severance,  ''the  purpose  of  this  club  was  defined 
to  be,  like  that  of  its  prototype  of  Boston,  to  form  a  center  of 
united  thought  and  action;  to  give  all  persons  and  all  topics 
of  vital  interest  a  hearing  at  its  bar;  to  give  sympathy  and 
help  when  possible,  but  to  be  merged  as  a  club  into  no  special 
cause.  Any  woman  willing  to  work  on  its  committees  and 
listen  to  its  papers  was  eligible  and  could  be  presented  to  the 
board  of  directors  for  membership.  The  club  was  intended 
to  welcome  all  classes  and  conditions  of  women  that  it  might 
become  familiar  with  their  outlook  and  needs.  Among  the 
activities  of  those  early  years  was  a  report  by  Dr.  Follansbee, 
urging  that  the  destruction  of  shade  trees  in  the  city  was  a 
crime.  The  press  took  the  matter  up  and  the  council  passed 
ordinances  for  the  protection  of  the  trees.  The  club  also 
moved  in  the  appointment  of  women  on  the  school  board.  At 
one  of  the  closing  sessions  of  the  Club,  the  president  was  able 
to  congratulate  the  members  of  this  organization  that  they  had 
resisted  the  temptation  to  become  a  "mutual  admiration 
society"  only. 

After  Madame  Severance's  return  from  her  second  trip  east, 
in  1887,  the  club  interest  and  the  population  of  the  city  had 
both  grown  to  such  an  extent  that  the  need  was  felt  for 
a  successor  to  the  lapsed  Woman's  Club.  The  Friday  Morn- 
ing Club,  of  Los  Angeles,  was  then  organized  in  1891,  the  first 
meeting  being  held  in  the  parlors  of  the  Hollenbeck,  April  16th. 

44 


C6e    Spotfier    of   C I  lifts          45 

Mrs.  C.  M.  Severance  was  chosen  president,  Mrs.  G.  B.  Eastman 
and  Miss  Fremont,  vice-presidents.  At  the  suggestion  of  Mrs. 
Eliza  Boynton  Harbert,  a  prominent  club  woman  of  Evanston, 
111.,  who  was  present,  the  motto:  "In  Essentials,  Unity;  in 
non-Essentials,  Liberty;  in  All  Things,  Charity,"  was  -adopted. 

The  fees  were  fixed  at  $2.00  for  admission  and  twenty-five 
cents  monthly  dues.  The  programs,  which  were  of  the  most 
varied  character,  were  arranged  for  by  committees.  The  club 
at  once  became  popular  and  a  factor  to  be  reckoned  with  in  all 
movements  for  the  advance  of  women's  interests,  the  improve- 
ment of  civic  affairs,  and  the  inauguration  of  reforms. 

It  was  one  of  the  first  clubs  to  join  the  General  Federation, 
having  been  admitted  in  1892;  it  established  the  Woman's  In- 
dustrial Exchange,  out  of  which  has  grown  the  present  Wo- 
men's Exchange ;  it  secured  the  appointment  of  a  woman  on  the 
city  school  board  and  supported  the  candidacy  of  Mrs.  Kate 
Tupper  Galpin  for  county  superintendent  of  schools;  it  has 
always  stood  staunchly  by  the  woman  librarians ;  it  has  taken 
a  deep  interest  in  establishing  and  supporting  the  Juvenile 
Court  and  in  the  efforts  to  secure  industrial  education  in  our 
schools. 

The  club  was  at  first  a  peripatetic  institution,  removing  from 
the  Hollenbeck  to  Caledonia  hall,  on  Spring  street,  to  the 
Potomac  building,  the  old  St.  Vincent's  College,  and  to  the 
Owens  block  on  Broadway.  Here  it  retained  its  headquarters 
until  the  removal,  in  January,  1900,  to  the  beautiful  and  com- 
modious "Woman's  Club  House,"  on  Figueroa  street,  erected 
for  the  club  by  the  Woman's  Club  House  Association,  of  which 
Mrs.  W.  C.  Patterson  was  president.  Very  appropriately,  their 
new  home  was  dedicated  upon  the  eightieth  birthday  of  the 
founder  of  the  club,  Madame  Severance.  So  rapidly  has  the 
club  grown,  the  membership  now  exceeding  one  thousand, 
that  this,  one  of  the  finest  women's  club  houses  in  the  United 
States,  is  now  inadequate  and  steps  have  been  taken  for  the 
erection  of  a  still  larger  club  home. 

Mrs.    Severence    declined    re-election    in    1894:,    and    the 


46          Cfte   a^otfter    of   CIu60 

title  of  President  Emeritus  was  bestowed  upon  her  in 
gratitude  for  her  past  services.  Mrs.  J.  A.  Osgood  was  elected 
to  the  presidency  and  served  two  years;  she  was  followed 
by  Mrs.  Margaret  Collier  Graham,  Mrs.  Joseph  F.  Sartori,  Mrs. 
Josefa  Tolhurst,  Mrs.  Roy  Jones  and  the  incumbent,  Mrs.  E. 
K.  Foster. 

The  weekly  programs  of  the  club  have  always  been  of  a 
high  order.  At  first  they  were  largely  provided  by  members, 
and  the  older  members  have  some  delightful  memories  of 
"days"  with  the  pioneers,  Spanish  Days,  receptions,  especially 
those  at  the  home  of  Mrs.  Margaret  Collier  Graham.  Of  late 
years  many  distinguished  men  and  women,  litterateurs, 
artists,  musicians,  actors  and  other  notables  have 
appeared  before  the  club.  The  Friday  Morning  Club  has  re- 
ceived as  guests,  visitors  of  note  from  every  section  of  the 
world;  its  receptions,  club  teas  and  other  social  functions 
have  added  much  to  its  attractiveness. 

EXTEACTS  FROM   AN  EARLY   ADDRESS   BEFORE   THE   FRIDAY 

MORNING   CLUB. 

"It  is  scarcely  less  than  a  miracle,  even  to  those  of  us  who 
were  its  sponsors,  that  the  club  idea  has  now  spread  and  taken 
root  in  the  uttermost  parts  of  the  earth.  We  now  have  club 
sisterhoods  in  Finland,  Iceland,  Russia,  India,  China  and  Africa. 
Think  what  that  fact  means  as  signifying  a  genuine  need ;  and 
as  showing  that  the  woman's  club  is  in  the  natural  development 
of  things  and  not  a  forced,  abnormal  growth.  Think  what  it 
means  of  progress  and  of  new  opportunities  for  women,  every- 
where ! 

"And  it  heartens  me  immensely  to  know  how  thoroughly 
most  of  these  clubs  are  in  touch  with  many  of  the  vital  topics 
of  the  hour;  to  know  that  the  clubs  are  not  absorbed  simply 
in  their  own  individual  culture  and  well-being,  that  they  are 
not  ignoring  the  interests  of  the  home  and  of  home  life,  but 
that  they  are  taking  up  outside  work  because  it  is  pressing  upon 
these  interests.  As  wise  women,  they  are  perceiving  that  the 


Cfte    egotftet    of   Clu60          47 


tremendous  reaction  of  social  and  civil  life  upon  home  and 
children,  that  the  disorder,  the  pestilence,  the  vice  which 
prevails  outside,  cannot  be  barred  out  of  the  best  appointed 
home  by  any  Chinese  wall  of  exclusion.  *  *  *  *  My  joy 
is  great  in  this  rapid  wakening  of  women  to  their  social  and 
civic  responsibilities,  which  exist  for  them,  in  their  very  nature 
as  women,  as  wives,  as  mothers  and  as  daughters,  and  which 
must  be  wisely  met  in  the  future.  My  faith,  then,  dear  friends, 
in  the  gains  of  club  fellowship  for  women  grows  with  the 
years;  is  justified  and,  indeed,  is  inevitable,  from  the  large 
experience  which  these  years  have  brought. 

"  '  'Tis  hard  for  many  human  beings,'  as  Emerson  says,  Ho 
whip  their  own  tops.  Concert  fires  people  to  a  certain  fury  of 
performance  which  they  can  rarely  reach  alone.'  This  fine 
fury,  kept  well  in  hand  by  the  conservative  instincts  of  the 
'eternal  womanly,'  is  sure  to  materialize  in  the  noblest  action. 
One  can  say  also  with  Emerson,  'Give  me  insight  into  today 
and  you  may  have  the  antique,  and  the  future  world. '  This  is 
true,  because  in  having  the  present  with  its  magnificent  endow- 
ments and  opportunities,  we  have  also  the  past  which  has  made 
the  present  what  it  is,  and  the  future  which  it,  in  turn,  will 
make— and  for  which  it  is  responsible.  Not  backward,  but 
forward  lies  the  Golden  Age  of  the  race— the  true  Saturnalia. 
Let  us  believe  undoubtingly  in  its  coming,  and  know  that  we 
must  help  to  bring  it. 

"And  if,  as  Emerson  says  again— and  who  can  doubt  it?— 
'It  is  the  fine  souls  which  serve  us,  and  not  what  is  called  fine 
society,'  we  have  in  this  fact  the  highest  endorsement  of  club 
life  for  women.  For  it  is  in  our  clubs  that  I  have  found  many  of 
the  finest  souls  and  much  of  the  most  helpful  social  service. 
Indeed,  my  own  early  dreams  of  what  such  association  and  com- 
radeship might  do  for  us  all,  are  happily  coming  true  in  my 
own  day.  And  I  am  thankful  beyond  words  that  it  has  been  my 
high  privilege  to  be  in  any  degree  helpful  in  foreseeing,  wel- 
coming and  enjoying  the  realization. 
"From  month  to  month,  as  I  look  into  your  faces,  dear  friends, 


48  c&e    90otj)er    of   Clufis 


and  hear  your  words,  I  see  the  fulfillment  of  my  high  hopes  in 
the  testimony  you  bear  of  devotion  to  home  duties  and  of 
recognition  of  these  as  the  nearest  and  most  sacred  duties.  I 
rejoice  in  believing  that  it  is  faithful  motherhood  and  wife- 
hood,  that  brings  you  here  for  counsel  and  for  helpfulness. 

"And  so,  once  more,  I  say  my  word  of  love  and  gratitude  to 
you— one  and  all—  and  my  'all  hail'  for  that  fair  future  which 
I  confidently  hope  will  soon  open  for  you  in  a  beautiful  and 
fit  club  house. " 

EXTRACT  FROM  ANOTHER  ADDRESS  BEFORE  THE  FRIDAY 
MORNING  CLUB. 

"I  lack  language  to  express  just  how  delightful  it  is  to  be 
with  you  again  on  the  opening  day  of  a  new  club-year.  It  must 
mean  much  more  to  me  than  to  any  one  of  you,  because  I  can 
look  back  to  the  very  sowing  of  the  seed  of  the  club  idea  for 
women— now  so  many  years  ago— which  has  grown  into 
such  magnificent  fruitage.  How  sure  we  few  beginners  were 
that  we  were  right  in  that  sowing — and  yet  how  long  we  had  to 
bear  the  taunt  of  being  'out  of  our  sphere'— as  if  women  were 
the  Supreme  power,  and  could  escape  the  sphere  assigned  them 
by  the  Creator!  In  the  faith  that  we  were  in  the  right  in 
keeping  abreast  with  our  brothers  and  in  the  spirit  of  the  new 
time,  which  was  teaching  us  all  its  new  duties,  we  kept 
steadily  on." 

MADAME  SEVERANCE'S  LAST  ADDRESS  AS  PRESIDENT  OF  THE 
FRIDAY  MORNING  CLUB,  OCTOBER,  1894. 

"I  hope  to  read  in  your  kindly  faces  the  fact  that  the  taking 
up  of  our  club  fellowship  again,  is  as  great  a  pleasure  to  you  as 
it  is  to  me.  And  I  am  free  to  confess  that  the  two  months  of 
our  separation  have  lengthened  into  a  year— under  my  own 
keen  sense  of  loss.  It  is  a  sincere  satisfaction  to  me  to  know, 
also,  through  the  many  voluntary  testimonies  of  our  members, 
that  our  club  life  has  been  a  source  of  great  help  and  cheer  to 
them.  To  some,  it  has  been  the  one  delight  of  the  busy  weeks, 


Ct)e    spot&et    of    Ciu60  49 

outside  of  their  own  home  life.  What  testimony  could  be  finer 
and  stronger  as  to  the  value  of  our  attempt  at  organized  life, 
although  it  is  yet  only  in  its  early  stages? 

"I  have  said  (perhaps  a  little  extravagantly)  that  your  faces 
may  report  as  great  a  joy  over  our  coming  together  again,  as 
is  found  in  my  own  heart.  I  do  not  know  that  I  am  warranted 
in  such  a  statement  when  I  recall  the  ardor  of  my  own  feeling. 
If  you  knew  fully  the  degree  of  that  feeling,  you  might  call 
me— with  some  show  of  justice— a  'club  fanatic.'  But  when 
you  realize,  dear  ladies,  that  this  is  no  mere  emotion  of  the 
passing  hour,  no  sentimental  theory,  but  the  deliberate  and 
growing  conviction  of  nearly  thirty  years  of  club  life,  as  presi- 
dent much  of  that  time,  you  must  believe  that  my  estimate  of 
and  faith  in  such  life  have,  justifiably,  a  profitable  basis  in  hard 
facts,  aside  from  those  of  my  own  temperament  and  special 
experience.  This  experience  has  been,  of  course,  on  a  broader 
scale  than  that  of  a  simple  member,  and  having  this  firmer 
basis  for  thorough  judgment,  is  entitled  to  weight,  I  am  sure. 

"  Indeed,  aside  from  the  beginnings  of  the  work  set  on  foot 
since  our  organization,  I  see,  as  you  must  also,  the  growth  of 
the  true  club  spirit  among  us— in  that  larger  charity  and 
greater  valuation  of  persons  and  of  questions  which  comes  from 
sympathetic  contact  and  from  kindred  aims  and  work.  One 
learns  in  the  sensible,  democratic  fraternity  of  club  life — 
where  creed  and  fashion  and  politics  do  not  count,  (except  to 
be  equally  tolerated  and  equally  ignored)  that  the  dangerous 
or  distressing  topic,  or  person,  is  quite  harmless,  and  as  broadly 
human  and  worthy  of  respect  as  ourselves,  or  our  pet  theories 
and  beliefs.  Indeed,  we  often  find  that  we  gain  most  in  noble 
development  and  grander  outlook  from  persons  to  whom  we 
may  have  once  felt  superior— before  knowing  them  as  we  can 
best  do  under  the  more  intimate  relations  of  club  life.  From 
being  indifferent  to  new  ideas,  one  thus  becomes  an  enthusiastic 
investigator  or  even  a  zealous  advocate.  For  ignorance  is  the 
true  parent  of  prejudice;  and  prejudice  is  the  most  stubborn 
hindrance  to  the  growth  of  human  beings  in  any  respect,  phys- 


50  Cfte    Sgjcit&er    of   C 1 1160 

ical,  mental  or  moral--the  densest  barrier  which  obstructs  the 
entrance  of  the  light  of  truth  to  any  soul.  It  is  the  parent  also 
of  the  worst  cruelties  which  afflict,  or  ever  have  afflicted,  the 
human  race. 

4 'The  first  function  and  result,  then,  of  club  life  as  I  know 
it  and  understand  it,  is  to  help  the  individual  members  to  this 
better  knowledge  of,  and  sympathy  with,  each  other.  When  this 
is,  done,  the  second  and  no  less  valuable— and  almost  inevita- 
ble—result follows— that  union  in  action  of  these  moral  forces 
to  which  nothing  is  impossible,  for  which,  I  truly  believe,  all 
human  good  is  only  waiting. 

"Yes,  dear  women,  after  being  a  help— an  uplifting  and 
inspiring  help— to  the  individual,  club  life  must  be  a  stimulat- 
ing factor  in  the  welfare  of  the  community.  It  cannot  be 
otherwise  and  be  anything  that  justifies  its  own  existence.  The 
mere  fact  of  so  much  associated  spiritual  force  must  tell  on  any 
community  as  a  powerful  object  lesson  toward  a  higher  stand- 
ard of  social  life  than  the  past  unworthy  one  of  fashion  and 
so-called  'society/ 

"And  it  is  ours,  who  realize  this,  to  utilize  to  the  full,  as  we 
grow  strong  in  each  other  and  in  the  certainty  of  our  higher 
aims,  this  nobler  opportunity  of  service  to  mankind,  this 
noblesse  oblige  of  our  own  vantage  ground.  As  conscientious 
creatures,  we  can  do  no  less  and  find  favor  in  our  own  eyes,  or 
indeed,  comfort  in  our  own  lives.  The  command  'Freely  ye 
have  received,  freely  give,'  is  written  in  the  innermost  fiber  of 
every  true  soul  as  clearly  as  in  any  Christian  code  of  morals. 
Obedience  to  this  divine  instinct  is  the  key  to  the  most  exquis- 
ite and  incomparable  earthly  happiness.  It  is  also  the  key  to 
happiness  in  all  other  and  future  worlds,  we  must  believe,  since 
it  is  an  inseparable  feature  of  the  moral  order,  the  keynote  of 
the  divine  economy— another  name  only  for  that  'Love  which  is 
Lord  of  life  and  death/  and  claims  all  being  for  its  own- 
sometime,  somewhere. 

"Of  course,  we  find  the  critic  inside  our  happy  enclosure,  as 
well  as  elsewhere.  Let  us  learn  not  only  to  tolerate,  but  to 


Cfie    Sgjot&er    of    Clti6$  si 


utilize  this  helpful  force.  If  it  be  true  that  the  artistic  faculty 
involves  a  keen  sense  of  the  best  and  the  'not  best/  that  the 
formula  of  life  thus  far  is,  as  Professor  Swing  astutely  says, 
'Given  a  good  and  beautiful  thing,  to  seek  a  bettter  and  more 
beautiful/  then  we  see  that  we  must  rate  our  critics  very 
highly,  if  they  teach  us  this  divine  discontent. 

"With  this  faith  in  the  nature  and  the  possibilities  of  our 
club  life,  let  us  take  up  its  work  and  its  fellowship  heartily 
and  hopefully,  dear  ladies.  It  can  be  anything  and  all  that  we 
choose  to  make  it— to  ourselves  and  to  others.  Let  us  mean  it 
to  be  (not  boastfully,  but  humbly  and  honestly)  a  new  source 
of  strength  to  our  own  lives  and  a  beacon  light  to  the  worn 
toilers  of  our  own  sex,  to  the  wronged  under  any  legal  or 
social  oppression— a  matchless  force  for  bringing  in  "the  nobler 
modes  of  life." 

MADAME  SEVERANCE'S  DEDICATION,  PLACED  IN  THE  CORNER 

STONE  OF  THE  WOMAN'S  CLUB  HOUSE,  ON 

FIGUEROA  STREET. 

"To  the  highest  welfare  of  our  homes,  our  schools,  our  city, 
our  country  and  the  world,  we  dedicate  the  beautiful  Club  home 
which  is  to  arise  upon  this  foundation— pledging  ourselves  that 
nothing  human  shall  be  foreign  to  our  sympathy  and  our  help- 
fulness herein. 

"We  rejoice  in  what  woman  has  already  wrought  for  herself 
and  for  others  through  her  club  fellowship  and  we  feel  assured 
that  greater  things  than  these  she  will  do  in  the  fairer  future 
before  her." 

On  behalf  of  the  Friday  Morning  Club,  September  14,  1899. 

MADAME  SEVERANCE  INTRODUCING  MADAME  MODJESKA  TO 
THE  FRIDAY  MORNING  CLUB,  IN  1896,  SAID: 

"It  was  a  clever  and  creditable  thought  of  the  managers  of 
the  Woman's  Department  of  the  World's  Fair  at  Chicago,  to  as- 
sign an  evening  to  the  representative  women  of  the  stage.  It  was 
to  me  the  most  memorable  and  impressive  session  of  all  that 
series  of  notable  meetings  by  women.  On  that  occasion  an 


52  ci)c    egotfter    of    Clu&0 


eager  audience  gathered  from  far  and  near  packed  the  hall; 
the  noble  sisters  of  the  craft  spoke  earnest,  glowing  words  on 
behalf  of  their  great  art  and  of  the  less  eminent  workers  in  it ; 
and  the  profession  which  had  been  so  long  under  the  ban  of 
a  narrow  pulpit  and  press  was  paid  a  high  tribute.  It  was 
in  all  ways  a  most  memorable  occasion  and  of  the  distinguished 
women  on  that  roll  of  honor,  the  name  of  our  guest  today,  led 
all  the  rest.  Its  bearer  won  all  hearts,  then,  as  now,  and  always. 

"You  know  her  career,— how  nobly  she  has  illustrated  the 
highest  art  upon  the  stage;  how  she  has  always  adorned 
womanhood  and  worn  the  white  flower  of  a  blameless  life,  in 
public  and  in  private. 

"You  know  that  she  has  her  modest  but  artistic  home 
among  us ;  that  she  was  a  Calif ornian  long  before  many  of  us 
claimed  the  title ;  that  she  is  one  of  us  in  the  club,  in  aims  and 
in  sympathy.  I  am,  therefore,  sure  that  I  give  you  great 
pleasure  when  I  tell  you  that  I  am  permitted  to  ask  you  to 
make  her  an  honorary  member  of  our  club,  by  a  rising  vote." 


BEFORE   THE  FEIDAY  MORNING  CLUB,  ON  JANUARY  12,  1905, 
THE  EIGHTY-FIFTH  BIRTHDAY  OF  MADAME  SEVERANCE. 

"Beloved  friends— the  earlier  and  the  later:— It  is  good  to 
be  here  today,  on  your  anniversary  and  mine— so  good  that  I 
find  no  fit  words  to  welcome  the  day  and  express  my  happiness 
in  it,  and  so  must  borrow  the  happy  lines  of  the  dear  Whittier— 
lines  which  you  have  helped  me  to  value  more  deeply. 

"I  am  fond  of  calling  my  Boston  life  my  'University  course,' 
and  of  feeling  that  its  delights  and  high  comradeship  could 
never  be  reached  elsewhere ;  but  it  is  you,  my  dear  comrades, 
who  have  set  me  to  questioning  this;  who  have  given  me  so 
much  more  than  the  rest  and  the  climate  that  we  sought  in 
this  land,  in  the  dear  delight  of  a  true  fellowship  of  kindred 
minds  and  aims,  so  that  I  can  say  with  sincere  emphasis, 

I  mourn  no  more  my  vanished  years. 

Beneath  a  tender  rain,— 
An  April  rain  of  smiles  and  tears, 

My  heart  is  young  again. 


UNIVERSITY 

^kSj 

Cfie    HortWat   Clufis  53 


I  feel  the  earth  move  sunward; 
I  join  the  great  march  onward; 
And  take  by  faith,  while  living, 
My  freehold  of  thanksgiving. 

"Thanksgiving,  also,  that  in  our  city  of  wondrous  possi- 
bilities in  beauty  and  in  highest  welfare,  we  have  a  band  of 
brave  'light-bearers'  whose  hands  are  upheld  by  the  members 
of  our  own,  and  other  clubs,  and  that  so  the  promise  grows  of 
the  coming  of  the  mother  of  men  and  the  Queen  of  the  Realm, 
into  her  own— a  place  beside  the  son  and  the  king. 

"And  thus,  with  heartfelt  tributes  from  family  and  from 
friends,  far  and  near,  I  begin  my  eighty-fifth  birthday,  dear 
friends." 


A  TEIBUTE  TO  MADAME  SEVERANCE  ON  HER  EIGHTY-FIFTH 

BIRTHDAY,  WRITTEN  BY  MRS.  T.  W.  BROWN,  AND  READ 

AT  THE  FRIDAY  MORNING  CLUB: 

MAY  SHE  LIVE  till  the  rights  of  the  weakest, 

The  poorest,  the  blackest,  are  won: 
Till  the  night  that  is  darkest  and  bleakest 

Shall  fade  at  the  touch  of  the  sun! 
Then  when  nothing  is  left  to  reform, 
May  she  live  just  to  keep  our  hearts  warm! 


IV. 
A  BIT  OF  PERSONAL  EVOLUTION. 

Age  is  opportunity  no  less 
Than  youth  itself,  though  in  another  dress; 
And  as  the  evening  twilight  fades  away 
The  sky  is  filled  with  stars  invisible  by  day. 

— Whittier. 

On  Monday  afternoon,  March  9,  1903,  Madame  Severance 
read  a  paper  at  the  Congress  of  Religions,  held  at  the  Woman's 
Club  House  in  Los  Angeles.  This  admirable  production  she  has 
since  revised  somewhat  and  placed  in  the  hands  of  the  editor. 

"It  is  necessary  to  my  record  to  say  that  my  maternal  grand- 
mother was  a  woman  of  strong  nature,  yet  sweet  to  the  core, 
who  trained  her  daughters  and  grand-daughters  in  the  details 
of  wise  housekeeping,  for  which  they  all  blessed  her  when 
settled  in  their  own  homes.  She  was  also  an  ardent  Episco- 
palian, and  her  devoted  husband,  although  he  had  been  born  of 
New  England  Presbyterian  parents,  not  only  yielded  to  her 
preference,  but  became  a  lay-reader  of  the  service  and  of 
Bishop  Seabury's  sermons  to  an  audience  of  neighbors  and 
friends,  gathered  in  the  large  parlors  of  their  country  home. 
Could  devotion  and  tolerant  sympathy  go  further  than  that? 
My  grandfather's  keen  interest  in  public  questions,  as  a  Feder- 
alist, gave  me  a  strong  bias  in  this  direction,  which  led  however, 
in  after  years,  to  quite  an  opposite  attitude  than  his  toward 
them. 

My  father,  a  Connecticut  Presbyterian,  had  also  followed  my 
mother  into  her  church.  Thus  it  will  be  seen  that  I  was  cradled 
and  nurtured  in  the  Episcopalian  faith.  But  my  guardian,  who 
was  my  father's  brother,  a  man  of  integrity  and  greatly  re- 

54 


C6e    q^otftet    of    Clii&s  55 

spected  in  his  county  and  state,  was  a  Presbyterian  of  the  most 
pronounced  type,  a  deacon  and  an  elder  of  his  church  through- 
out his  long  life.  At  an  early  age,  I  came  under  the  spell  of  his 
zeal  and  of  the  doctrines  and  customs  of  that  denomination. 
Among  these  were  the  revival  meetings  of  the  Reverends 
Burchard  and  Finney,  excitements  which  recurred  as  regularly 
and  inevitably  as  the  spring  and  fall  house-cleanings  of  that 
time,  and  which  were  as  disturbing  to  the  peace  and  routine  of 
many  homes. 

"My  father's  early  death  and  my  mother's  constant  mourn- 
ing for  him  had  made  me  a  serious  and  super-sensitive  child, 
naturally  reverential  to  the  authority  of  the  home  and  the 
church.  I  was  thus  always  under  torture  for  my  sins— which 
were  supposed  to  consist  in  a  love  for  *  worldly  pleasure'— child 
that  I  was,  and  sins  that  were  never  mine  even  in  my  mature 
years!  I  was  in  this  state  by  day  and  by  night,  constantly 
haunted  by  the  torture  of  the  doom  to  eternal  punishment,  so 
vividly  pictured  in  sermon,  exhortation  and  prayer,  for  those 
whose  sins  were  not  confessed  and  forsaken.  I  had  brief  inter- 
vals of  exaltation  from  a  comforting  sense  of  safety  in  having, 
at  times,  found  forgiveness  and  made  my  'peace  with  God,'  as  it 
was  termed. 

"One  feature  of  this  torture  was  especially  trying;  in  the 
seasons  of  so-called  blacksliding,  I  was  sometimes  found  with 
a  group  of  merry-hearted  children— swinging  back  and  forth 
on  the  heavy  iron  gate  of  my  uncle's  banking-house  grounds, 
then  my  home.  In  the  midst  of  our  innocent  frolic  a  musical 
but  severe  voice  would  ring  out  from  the  street,  '  Car-o-line,  do 
you  know  you  are  swinging  on  the  gate  of  hell  ? '  This  was  'the 
voice  of  a  leading  lawyer,  a  close  friend  of  my  uncle,  a  man  so 
elegant  and  so  handsome  that  he  was  the  admiration  of  the 
young  people,  in  the  peaceful  intervals  between  the  fearful 
revival  times. 

"I  was  under  bondage  to  authority,  dogmas  and  conservative 
ideas  until  I  married  into  a  family  of  strong  anti-slavery  con- 
victions, who  had  the  courage  to  stand  for  these  convictions 


56  Cije    Q0otljcr    of    Clubs 


in  an  unsympathetic  community  and  time.  This  marriage  led 
me  into  active  sympathy  with  their  ideas,  as  well  as  into 
ardent  admiration  for  the  great-hearted  house-mother  who  had 
taken  under  her  sheltering  care  and  wise  training,  from  time 
to  time,  thirteen  young  girls  to  whom  she  had  given  a  home 
until  they  were  fitted  for  homes  of  their  own.  She  had  also  done 
the  rarer  kindness  of  persuading  her  husband  to  offer  a  home 
to  the  four  orphaned  sons  of  a  deceased  cousin,  for  whom  he 
had  had  a  warm  attachment.  That  dear  woman  should  have 
had  her  place  upon  the  calendar  of  saints ;  I  have  her  on  mine. 
"With  many  others,  our  family  seceded  from  the  old  Presby- 
terian church  of  the  town,  because  we  could  no  longer  sit 
conscientiously  under  a  preacher,  or  in  a  fellowship,  where  the 
golden  rule  of  Christianity  was  not  recognized  as  applicable 
to  all  men,  whatever  the  color  of  their  skin,  or  crinkle,  or  non- 
crinkle,  of  their  hair.  We  afterward  formed  a  new  church 
which  welcomed  the  advocates  of  the  anti-slavery  principles 
and  which  prospered  in  numbers  and  in  influence  in  the  com- 
munity. Still  later,  the  Rev.  Charles  Fitch,  a  man  of  majestic 
presence  and  courageous  enthusiasm,  was  called  to  this  church. 
He  wrought  mightily  upon  his  congregation  and  upon  many 
thoughtful  people  outside  it,  with  the  striking  array  of  texts 
from  the  Old  Testament  prophets  which  he  made  to  bear,  con- 
vincingly it  seemed,  upon  the  second  coming  of  Christ  and  the 
near  approach  of  the  event.  Among  others,  my  husband— a 
banker  and  a  light-hearted  man  of  affairs— was  so  much  im- 
pressed that,  to  the  amazement  of  his  staid  business  friends,  he 
ordered  work  abandoned  upon  the  house  which  we  were  then 
building  for  a  permanent  home.  And  his  impetuous  wife,  sup: 
ported  by  an  earnest  sister  of  the  church,  and  fortified  by  what 
they  thought  unassailable  arguments  drawn  from  an  infallible 
Bible— these  two  set  off  on  an  audacious  effort  to  confront— 
and  they  doubted  not  to  convert— the  preacher,  a  man  of 
mature  years  and  of  unusual  dignity  of  character,  of  the  church 
they  had  left.  That  he  was  dumb  with  surprise  at  the  unwonted 
foray,  they  did  not  then  suppose,  but  flattered  themselves  that 
it  was  his  inability  to  refute  the  arguments  they  advanced. 


C6e    Sgot&et    of    C 1 1160  57 

But  the  failure  of  that  honest  attempt  to  use  the  Bible  by  a 
grouping  of  selected  texts,  in  support  of  a  special  theory, 
resulted  in  the  weakening  of  my  faith  in  the  infallible  authority 
of  any  man  or  book.  Thereafter  I  was  free  to  examine  and 
accept  any  truth  or  doctrine  which  commended  itself  to  my 
reason  and  conscience— the  'light  which  lighteth  every  man/ 

"An  event  which  occurred  soon  after  this  and  which  many 
amused  themselves  by  calling  a  specimen  of  simple  fanaticism, 
was  an  address  by  Andrew  Jackson  Davis.  Yet  this  was  helpful, 
I  am  sure,  to  all  who  dared  venture  to  hear  the  proscribed  man 
—'infidel/  as  he  was  then  called.  The  address  was  a  rhapsody 
on  the  unrecognized  value  of  life— its  marvelous  resources  and 
possibilities  and  the  responsibilities  resting  upon  all  thoughtful 
and  fortunate  persons  to  make  life  known  as  such,  and  worth 
living  to  all  of  God 's  children.  Its  effect  upon  me  was  so  great, 
so  thrilling,  that  I  struck  off  at  white  heat  some  stanzas,  be- 
ginning : 

Heirs  of  the  Ages,  rise,  be  bold; 
The  hour  calls  for  you  and  the  old 
In  sin  and  shame,  awaits  your  stroke. 

' '  Thereafter  I  heard  gladly  writers  and  speakers  who  had,  or 
claimed  to  have,  a  helpful  message. 

"About  this  time  the  Hutchinson  family,  called  by  N.  P.  Wil- 
lis 'a  nest  of  brothers  with  a  sister  in  it,'  came  to  our  city  on 
one  of  their  western  trips.  Beguiled  by  the  charm  and  sweet- 
ness of  their  music,  I  joined  them  on  a  visit  to  a  neighboring 
town,  to  be  a  spectator  at  a  meeting  held  in  the  interest  of 
'Women's  Rights.'  I  found  there  a  group  of  earnest,  thought- 
ful women,  with  a  few  friends  of  the  other  sex;  I  found,  also, 
another  broadening  of  my  moral  and  mental  horizon.  It  seemed 
to  me  then,  as  since,  that  there  was  no  flaw  in  the  logic  which 
claimed  it  to  be  the  duty  of  our  legislators  to  take  the  mother 
from  the  category  of  the  alien,  the  criminal  and  the  lunatic, 
and  place  her  on  an  equal  with  her  sons  and  as  an  equal  partner 
of  the  'two  who  sit  beside  the  hearth.' 


58          Cfu   Qgotftet    of 


"This  experience  led  rue  to  a  confession  of  my  new  belief 
through  the  press  of  the  city  and  brought  me  an  invitation  from 
the  Cleveland  Library  Association  to  lecture  before  it.  This 
was  an  opportunity  I  dared  not  decline,  since  it  would  be  useful 
in  drawing  attention  to  so  vital  an  issue  and  would,  no  doubt, 
open  the  platform  of  similar  Associations  to  women,— which 
had  not  hitherto  been  done. 

"Feeling  that  I  should  never  live  for  another  such  effort,  I 
put  into  my  paper,  under  the  broad  title  of  'Humanity— a  Defi- 
nition and  a  Plea, '  all  the  arguments  I  could  muster  to  my  aid. 
This  effort  brought  me  into  relation  with  a  sympathetic  band 
of  Ohio  women  and  eventually  resulted  in  my  appearing  before 
its  legislature  to  urge  their  petition  for  suffrage.  I  did  this 
under  a  courteous  introduction  from  Judge  John  A.  Foote, 
a  leader  in  our  church,  a  brother  of  Commodore  Foote,  and  at 
that  time  a  member  of  the  Ohio  state  senate.  But  I  had  no  gift 
for  public  speaking,  and  after  a  few  repititions  of  my  paper  I 
did  little  in  that  way. 

"About  this  time  I  began  exploring  the  subject  of  hygiene, 
by  the  aid  of  all  the  literature  then  extant— which  mainly 
consisted  of  treatises  by  Drs.  Alcott  and  Graham  upon  reformed 
diet  and  water-cures,  and  by  foreign  physicians  upon  their  in- 
vestigations. Through  this  study  I  became  largely  emancipated 
from  the  physicians  and  learned  to  trust  nature  to  do  her  own 
work  by  her  own  remedies— mainly  rest  for  the  stomach  as  well 
as  for  other  muscles;  pure,  untainted  air  by  night  as  well  as 
by  day,  and  food  which  should  be  nourishing  but  not  stimulat- 
ing and  irritating  in  character— in  short,  that  'plain  living,'  by 
which  we  compass  high  thinking. 

' '  This  hygienic  study  came  about  through  my  anxiety  for  my 
husband,  whose  parents  had  died  in  mid-life  from  New  Eng- 
land's scourge— consumption— and  whose  three  brothers  had 
early  followed  through  the  same  disease.  I  naturally  feared, 
also,  that  our  children  might  develop  a  tendency  in  the  same 
direction.  And  I  was  well  rewarded  for  my  study  by  the 
escape  of  my  children  and  the  lengthened  life  of  my  husband 
to  the  age  of  seventy-eight. 


C6e   {©otfter    of   Clu60  59 


"This  experience  and  others  of  its  like,  together  with  the 
resultant  close  observation  and  eager  following  of  the  scientific 
investigation  of  specialists,  I  count  as  among  the  most  helpful 
of  my  mature  years.  It  has  confirmed  my  faith  in  Huxley's 
fine  statement  of  the  physical  basis  of  life  and  Drummond's 
'Natural  Law  in  the  Spiritual  Realm/  and  emphasized  the 
unity  of  all  life  and  law.  Advanced  scientists  are  now  teaching 
the  unity  of  all  natural  forces  and  that  the  law  of  health  is  the 
proper  adjustment  of  these  over-ruling  forces.  This  is,  to  me, 
a  vital  part  of  the  gospel  of  glad  tidings  and  has  so  inspired 
me  with  its  value  that  I  have  often  erred,  I  fear,  in  seeking  to 
spread  it  where  it  was  really  needed  but  not  always  welcome. 
Self-control  and  daily  vigilance  are  so  difficult  with  the  best  of 
us,  and  so  often  distasteful. 

"Life  grew  still  richer  for  me  as  the  years  went  on,  through 
the  coming  of  noble  men  and  women  from  the  east,  with  their 
messages  upon  vital  themes.  My  desire  to  meet  these  great 
ones  of  the  earth  in  their  own  homes  and  haunts,  became 
unconquerable  and  led  ultimately  to  the  removal  of  my 
family  to  New  England,  and  to  the  intimate  association  with 
the  many  noble  women  who  were  united  in  bonds  of  sympathy 
and  helpfulness  by  the  organization  of  the  New  England  Wo- 
man's Club  and  its  diverse  interests  and  labors  for  the  uplifting 
of  humanity  and  the  enlarging  of  woman's  sphere. 

"On  reaching  Boston,  in  1855,  we  became  attendants  at 
Music  Hall,  where  Theodore  Parker  was  then  preaching  to  vast 
audiences.  We  admired  his  superb  courage  in  driving  home 
to  each  hearer  his  immediate  duty  to  his  fellows,  as  brother  and 
as  patriot.  This  he  did  with  the  power  and  fervor  of  the  Hebrew 
prophets,  under  the  command  to  cry  aloud  and  spare  not— 'tell 
my  people  that  they  go  forward.'  A  great  service  was  his  to  pul- 
pit and  to  pew,  and  to  all  good  causes,  the  country  over.  His 
home  life  was  also  an  ideal  one.  But  the  bigotry  of  even  so  late  a 
day  was  shown  most  emphatically  in  the  bitter  scorn  of  the  press 
and  in  the  prayers  of  the  conservative  pulpit,  which  blindly 
assume,  even  yet,  that  the  truth  is  endangered  by  a  brave  utter- 


60  CJ)C    C@otijer    of    Clubs 


ance  that  is  not  in  line  with  the  old  thought.  In  these  attacks 
upon  Parker,  such  appeals  were  made  as  'that  the  Lord  would 
put  a  bit  in  his  mouth,'  and  would  'deliver  the  city  from  the 
curse  of  his  presence  and  heresies. '  Only  a  few  free  souls,  even 
of  the  Unitarians,  stood  by  him  in  his  sincere  utterances,  or 
invited  him  to  speak  from  their  pulpits ;  yet  now  this  denomina- 
tion claims  him  as  a  leader.  This  is  the  final  reward  of  all 
valiant  and  sincere  'disturbers  of  the  peace'  of  the  conserva- 
tism of  their  day 

Like  Parker,  Mr.  Emerson  was  also  rated  as  a  disturber  when, 
under  the  stern  stress  of  conviction,  he  left  the  Unitarian  pulpit. 
These  two  courageous  souls,  with  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  were 
alike  in  their  passion  for  justice  for  all  and  in  the  calm  ignor- 
ing of  results  to  themselves.  The  personal  sympathy  and  inter- 
course with  such  men  was  a  liberal  education  in  itself.  They 
all  realized  what  Emerson  wrote  impersonally,  'Nor  knowest 
thou  what  argument  thy  life  to  thy  neighbor's  creed  has  lent/ 
To  see  Emerson  enter  a  room,  where  his  presence  brought  re- 
lease from  all  worries  or  small  interests,  to  hear  him  read,  in 
his  rich,  quiet  voice,  at  our  New  England  Woman's  Club,  manu- 
scripts intended  later  for  a  larger  public,  to  associate  with  him 
at  the  famed  and  unique  Eadical  Club,  where  his  profound 
grasp  of  all  vital  topics  made  him  a  reconciling  factor  as  well 
as  a  leader— all  this  was  to  be  blest  indeed!  One  of  the  events 
which  has  never  lost  its  impressiveness,  was  his  reading,  with 
impassioned  emphasis,  his  'Boston  Hymn/  to  the  thrilled 
audience  in  Music  Hall.  One  special  phrase  in  a  paper  read  by 
him  before  the  Radical  Club,  put  me  under  lasting  personal 
obligation  to  him,  as,  for  the  first  time,  it  described  me  satis- 
factorily to  myself.  This  was  his  mention  of  an  earnest  French 
woman  who  had  spoken  of  herself  as  only  having  'the  gift  of 
loving  superior  persons/ 

"Fannie  Kemble's  reading,  with  her  most  tragic  power, 
Longfellow's  magnificent  'Building  of  the  Ship,'  at  this  same 
stirring  period— the  close  of  the  civil  war— was  another  inspir- 
ing memory.  The  dear  poet,  silver-haired  and  radiant,  was  in 
the  audience,  as  were  Holmes,  Lowell,  Sumner  and,  I  think, 


C6e    Qgotfiet    of    C I  it  60  ei 

Garrison  and  Phillips,  also  Mrs.  Howe  and  other  literary  and 
sympathetic  women. 

11  Another  and  one  of  the  most  helpful  of  my  experiences 
came  to  me  from  the  work  of  the  'Free  Religious  Association/ 
organized  after  Theodore  Parker's  death  and  as  a  result  of  his 
attitude  and  teachings.  This  was  a  fore-runner  of  this  Con- 
gress, founded,  like  that,  not  to  separate  but  to  unite  all  honest 
searchers  after  the  essentials  of  the  universal,  in  religion  and 
in  life.  In  this  work  were  engaged  Rev.  0.  B.  Frothingham, 
scholarly  and  courageous,  representing  the  aristocracy  of  Bos- 
ton; Thomas  Wentworth  Higginson,  the  charming  litterateur; 
Rev.  William  J.  Potter,  of  most  gentle  nature;  the  brilliant 
John  Weiss ;  Felix  Adler  of  New  York  and  David  A.  Wasson, 
of  New  England,  a  writer  of  remarkable  and  powerful  poems 
written  from  an  agonizing  invalidism.  One  of  these, l  Jubilate,' 
although  the  name  was  changed  by  his  publishers  to  the  weaker 
one  of  *  All's  Well,'  places  him  among  the  major  poets.  It  is 
a  royal  trumpet-toned  celebration  of  the  resources  of  the  soul  in 
its  mental  and  spiritual  endowments  and  opportunities.  The 
women  active  in  this  work  were  Mrs.  Ednah  D.  Cheney,  Mr. 
Parker's  helper,  and  Hannah  Stevenson,  also  one  of  his  intel- 
lectual friends.  In  their  companionship  I  filled  my  lesser  role 
with  great  delight  and  profit. 

"But  I  cannot  call  the  roll  of  all  the  inspiring  persons  and 
associations  which  the  fruitful  years  in  Boston  brought  me.  I 
went  to  the  Mecca  of  my  hopes  for  its  atmosphere  only,  but  I 
found  most  gracious  welcome  to  hearts  and  homes  and  rejoice 
always  in  the  fate  that  brought  me  such  blessedness.  It  is  thus, 
dear  friends,  that  I  have  taken  my  college  course  in  the  Uni- 
versity of  Life,  under  these  broad-minded  tutors,  souls  eager 
for  any  truth  which  might  widen  and  broaden  their  vision  and 
help  toward  human  welfare.  After  such  vital  training,  one 
might  almost  say  of  conventional  training,  as  Emerson  said  of 
going  through  Harvard— that  the  gain  of  it  was  only  'to  learn 
how  little  one  needed  to  go.' 

"But  this  New  England  experience  ended  in  1875,  when  we 


62          Cfte    Sgot&er    of   Clu&s 

removed  to  California.  We  found  Los  Angeles  at  that  time  a 
town  of  great  possibilities  and  many  attractions,  but  with  the 
few  advantages  of  a  frontier  town.  I  soon  plunged  ardently 
into  the  work  of  helping  to  add  to  these  by  organizing  a  Free 
Kindergarten  Association,  a  Woman's  Club,  later  re-organized 
into  the  Friday  Morning  Club,  and  a  Neighborhood  Book  Club. 
This  latter  was  formed  with  the  efficient  aid  of  our  Unitarian 
pastor,  John  D.  Wells.  At  his  coming  we  had  opened  our 
library  for  the  gathering  of  those  interested  in  that  church. 
Our  interest  was  enlisted  in  this  movement,  because  that 
church  stands  for  character  rather  than  creed— for  the  father- 
hood of  God  and  the  brotherhood  of  man.  We  have  since  felt 
drawn  into  a  helpful  effort  to  make  this  faith  practical  under 
the  earnest  and  eloquent  efforts  of  the  Rev.  W.  P.  D.  Bliss,  of 
J.  Stitt  Wilson,  of  Rev.  R.  M.  Webster  and  of  the  Rev.  Burt 
Estes  Howard,  who  seemed  the  embodiment  of  the  text  which 
he  incorporated  into  each  Sunday  service  and  read  with  great 
emphasis,  'I  am  annointed  to  preach  the  gospel  to  the  poor,  to 
open  the  prison  doors,  to  let  the  oppressed  go  free.' 

"We  seem  now  to  have  come  in  our  political  history  to  the 
parting  of  the  ways— to  the  choice  between  serving  God  and 
Mammon.  'Things  are  in  the  saddle  and  ride  mankind/ 
Greed,  avarice,  and  cruel  selfishness  have  come  to  scoff  at  the 
ideals  which  made  us  a  true  *  world-power'  and  the  hope  of  the 
nations.  They  ignore  the  ten  commandments  of  the  old  dis- 
pensation and  the  golden  rule  of  the  new— making  havoc  of 
them  and  coolly  claiming  that  they  have  no  bearing  on  the 
week-day,  business  life. 

"And  now,  my  friends,  I  am  in  my  sunset  years,  still  reaping 
—as  the  rich  harvest  of  my  rare  opportunities  and  associations, 
and  from  fields  where  I  have  not  personally  sown— such  ap- 
preciation and  gratitude  as  are  often  overwhelming.  Not  only 
this,  but  the  thought  of  what  I  have  aspired  to  be  and  was  not, 
comforts  me." 


V. 

VARIOUS  LETTERS  AND  ADDRESSES. 

LETTER   TO   THE   ASSOCIATION   FOE   THE    ADVANCEMENT    OF 

WOMEN,    1894. 

"Dear  Friends :— It  pains  me  more  than  I  can  say  that  I  have 
been  obliged  to  miss  so  much  of  your  wonderful  Pentecost— the 
momentous  gatherings  of  the  past  few  months  in  Chicago ;  and 
that  now  again  I  cannot  renew  the  delightful  friendships  so 
finely  formed  at  the  organization  of  our  A.  A.  W.,  so  many 
years  ago.  I  must  content  myself  with  a  few  words  by  pen 
instead  of  profiting  by,  and  enjoying  as  of  old,  your  helpful 
counsel  and  presence.  *  •  *  *  * 

"The  Association  for  the  Advancement  of  Women  was  the 
child  of  high  enthusiasm,  large  hopes  and  lofty  aims.  It  was 
a  leading  pioneer  among  the  national  organizations  distinct- 
ively for  women,  outside  church  boundaries  and  strictly  phil- 
anthropic work,  and  its  future  seemed  big  with  promise  to  our 
fond  maternal  eyes.  *  *  *  * 

"I  think  we  can  truly  say  that  it  has  in  a  large  measure, 
justified  our  hopes  and  fulfilled  its  early  promise  and  that 
even  at  the  present  it  has  not  outlived  its  usefulness;  but  has 
rather  transferred  it  to  our  later  clubs  and  councils  and  may 
now,  therefore,  be  put  upon  the  roll  of  honor— the  retired  list." 

ANOTHEE  LETTEE  TO  THE  WOMAN'S  CONGEESS,— 1894. 

"Dear  Sisterhood  of  the  Woman's  Congress:— As  a  veteran 
in  the  various  good  causes  which  now  bring  you  together,  I 
cannot  forbear  to  give  you  my  word  of  hearty  greeting  and 
'  God  Speed, '  with  the  assurance  of  my  undiminished  interest  in 
their  progress  and  faith  in  their  final  success.  For,  as  certain- 

63 


64  c&e    C^otfter    of   Clu60 


ly  as  'God  is  in  His  Heaven/  all  is  on  the  way  to  being  right 
with  His  world— else  there  is  no  adequate  meaning  to  life  and 
the  growth  which  life  is  evidently  meant  to  be. 

1  'I  rejoice  in  the  part,  small  though  it  was,  which  I  bore  in 
the  pioneer  work  of  these  various  movements  and  in  the  de- 
lightful relations  which  I  enjoyed  with  the  brave  and  beloved 
pioneer  women,  and  I  rejoice  unspeakably  in  the  numberless 
new  recruits— vastly  better  equipped  for  their  work  and  re- 
sponsible positions  in  the  home  and  elsewhere  than  were  we. 
To  the  suffrage  ranks  they  come  now,  not  as  aforetime,  by  the 
slow  process  of  individuals,  but  by  battalions  and  by  States,  and 
so  we  have  every  reason  to  take  courage  and  to  thank  God.  *  * 

1  'From  my  long  experience,  I  wish  to  urge  upon  you  the  su- 
preme importance  of  beginning  well— at  the  beginning— with 
the  little  people.  Give  them  the  kindergarten  and  apply  its 
true  and  natural  methods  to  all  classes  throughout  the  school 
course;  elect  the  best  men  and  women— and  only  the  best— to 
that  post  of  sacred  responsibility,— the  city  and  county  school 
boards.  Let  no  other  duties  eclipse,  or  forestall,  this  one,  I 
implore  you— the  present  welfare  of  the  precious  child,  the 
future  of  the  State,— these  wonderful  new  commonwealths  of 
ours  which  hold  the  hope  of  the  world,  hang  tremblingly  in 
the  balance,  for  your  decision.  *  *  *  * 

"The  child  reared  under  lofty  ideals,  under  a  controlling 
faith  in  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  in  loving  labor  as  the  best 
birthright  and  the  chief  joy,  will  not  find  the  labor  question 
a  hard  one  to  settle,  under  the  practical  working  of  the  Broth- 
erhood of  man.  Then  will  the  kingdom  of  God  have  come  and 
His  will  be  done  by  His  children," 

And  o'er  the  glad  earth,  from  shore  to  shore, 
The  song  of  peace,  unbroken,  pour. 

ADDRESS  BEFORE  WOMAN'S  PARLIAMENT  OF  SOUTHERN  CAL- 
IFORNIA. 

"Dear  Friends:— I  count  it  a  great  privilege  to  be  one  of 
you.  It  is  because  of  you  and  such  as  you— both  men  and 
women— who  face  your  duties  and  responsibilities  fearlessly, 


ot&er   of   CIu60  65 


that  we  are  justified  in  our  high  hopes  for  the  race.  In  the 
fellowship  of  kindred  minds,  within  the  home  and  outside  of 
it,  lies  the  supremest  happiness  of  life.  But  there  is  still 
much  to  be  done  to  make  life  worth  living  for  the  mass  of  our 
fellows. 

" There  are  surely  Hen  righteous'  in  any  city  and  multitudes 
more|,  counting  large-hearted  and  wise  women,  enough  to 
save  the  city  and  our  country  as  well.  Therefore  do  I  trust  in 
the  union  which  is  strength.  *  *  *  * 

"I  place  justice  before  charity,— justice,  which  is  the  highest 
charity.  And  while  we  must,  and  do,  recognize  the  need  of 
charity  under  our  present  conditions,  let  us  look  for  and  labor 
for  the  time  when  industry  will  be  so  organized  as  to  make  sure 
that  no  man,  woman  or  child,  in  our  broad,  bountiful  land,  shall 
be  homeless  and  helpless;  when  each  shall  have  the  certainty 
of  work  and  of  the  just  reward  which  insures  all  the  needed  op- 
portunities for  the  home,  for  education,  and  for  development. 
Surely  this  much  is  the  birthright  of  every  child  of  God  and 
of  every  individual  of  a  free  people.  Never  will  our  land  be 
either  a  Christian,  or  a  civilized,  country  until  this  is  brought 
about  by  those  who  believe  that  the  Golden  Rule  is  the  only 
just  basis  for  business  and  for  political  activities. 

.  "You  may  call  this  socialism—as  the  world  does,  with  a 
sneer,—  and  confound  it  with  anarchy.  But  to  know  what 
socialism  is,  in  its  animus  and  in  the  briefest  terms,  we  have 
only  to  consult  our  dictionaries,  to  be  able  to  defend  it  against 
all  objectors. 

"  Follow  your  own  clear  and  divine  intuitions,  dear  friends, 
'It  is  the  heart  and  not  the  brain  alone,  but  both  combined, 
which,  working  to  the  highest  outlook  and  uses,  doth  attain/ 
I  sometimes  think  that  the  most  serious  defect  in  woman's  de- 
velopment, in  our  time  as  in  the  past,  is  the  lack  of  courage  to 
follow  bravely  the  promptings  of  her  higher  nature.  But  when 
one  has  acquired  this  freedom  from  the  slavery  to  thoughtless 
conventionalities,  one  cannot  easily  backslide  from  it  and  its 
delights. 


of    CIu60 


"So  my  final  word— as  it  may  truly  be— is  to  seek  first  this 
commanding  attitude  and  untold  recompense  will  surely  come 
to  you.  Plant  yourselves  upon  the  rock  of  human  Brotherhood 
and  the  world  will  be  the  better  for  your  having  lived  and 
you  will  be  doubly  blest.  This  will  solve  the  fearful  problems 
which  now  menace  our  social  order ;  and  this  alone  will  do  it. 

"I  would  particularly  call  the  attention  of  the  women  of  the 
Parliament  to  immediate  work  along  the  lines  of  civil  service 
reform,  enfranchisement  of  women,  election  of  women  upon 
school  boards,  and  agitation  for  the  municipal  ownership  of 
public  utilities.  This  latter  will  decrease  our  heavy  taxes  and 
put  money  in  the  public  treasury,  as  it  has  elsewhere  done.  I 
would  also  call  your  attention  to  the  booklet,  'Letters  of  a 
Chinese  Official;  A  View  of  Eastern  and  Western  Civilization/ 
This  is  most  useful  as  propaganda,  helping  our  boastful 
people  to  see  themselves  as  others  see  them,  and  if  it  was  not 
written  by  a  scholarly  Chinaman,  it  is  the  result  of  keen  observ- 
ation and  clear  insight. " 


Madame  Severance  was,  on  one  occasion,  in  her  eightieth 
year,  so  remarkable  an  example  of  what  has  been  called  a 
charming  old  age,  that  many  women  cherish  the  memory  of  her 
as  she  looked  and  as  she  spoke  at  a  meeting  of  the  Woman's 
Parliament  of  Southern  California.  Before  the  large  body  she 
gave  the  following  words  of  welcome,  which  are  quite  char- 
acteristic of  the  genial  "club  mother:" 

"It  seems  by  my  presence  here  that  we  are  entering  the  new 
era,  indeed,  when  grandmothers  of  my  years  are  assigned  to  a 
post  of  honor  on  club  and  other  platforms,  and  not  condemned 
to  the  old-time  chimney-corner;  when  these  platforms,  like  the 
family,  are  not  complete  without  one  such.  So  much  the  better 
for  the  grandmamma,  if  not  always  for  the  family  or  the  plat- 
form! It  is  a  most -pleasant  duty  to  give  you  welcome  to  our 
hearts,  as  well  as  our  homes  and  our  City  of  the  Angels,  to  look 
into  your  earnest,  sympathetic  faces,  and  realize  how  helpful, 
how  beyond  price,  womanly  fellowship  has  grown  to  be  in  these 


C6e   egotfter   of   Clu&s  67 

later  days;  to  feel  how  much  it  is  to  us  all,— not  alone  to  the 
younger  women,  who  are  still  in  the  thick  of  life's  duties  and 
its  hoped-for  successes,  or  its  sad  failures,  but  to  us  elders, 
who  remember  keenly  the  limitations  of  our  past,  when  outside 
effort  meant  only  the  'sewing  circle'  and  the  profitless  form- 
alities of  miscalled  '  society/ 

"Let  me  add,  dear  friends,  to  my  word  of  welcome  and  retro- 
spect, the  assurance  of  my  undiminished,  my  growing  faith  in 
woman's  capacity  and  efforts  toward  social  betterment  in  all 
lines,— in  the  women  intelligent  enough  to  have  convictions, 
and  courageous  to  stand  to  them.  To  such,  nothing  is  im- 
possible." 


Remarks  made  by  Madame  Severance  on  presenting  a  Medal- 
lion of  herself,  made  by  Miss  Peel,  of  Canada,  to  the  Santa 
Barbara  Woman's  Club,  in  August,  1898: 

"Dear  Friends:— I  will  detain  you  but  a  few  moments  from 
the  pleasant  social  hour  which  you  have  so  kindly  arranged 
for  my  friend,  Miss  Peel,  and  myself.  The  little  gift  which  I 
have  thought  to  make  you  does  not  require  any  special  cere- 
mony. I  beg  of  you  to  believe  that  the  thought  has  not  come 
to  me  from  any  personal  vain-glory,  but  from  my  deep  interest 
in  you  as  a  club,  the  successor  of  the  early  one  whose  founding 
and  fellowship  I  so  much  enjoyed.  It  is  partly  in  memory  of 
that  and  also  that  I  may  feel  that  I  am  always  in  the  midst 
of  you,  that  I  offer  you  the  counterfeit  presentment  of  myself 
which  hangs  upon  yonder  wall. 

"It  gives  me  especial  pleasure  to  do  this,  since  it  is  the  work 
of  my  dear  friend,  Miss  Peel,  and  will  give  you  a  most  satis- 
factory specimen  of  her  workmanship. 

"May  I  hope,  also,  that  this  presence  among  you  may  be 
a  stimulus  toward  the  ideal  club, — the  club  of  helpful  action 
as  well  as  of  pleasant  social  intercourse;  that  you  will  not  be 
content  in  sitting  at  ease  in  your  lovely  bit  of  Zion,  but  will 
make  your  organized  life  tell  for  all  things  which  tend  to  the 
highest  human  welfare. 


68          cfte   a^ot&et   of   Ciufis 


"To  this  end  I  would  advise  you  most  earnestly  to  keep  in 
touch  with  the  large  group  of  women  united  in  the  General  Fed- 
eration; to  work  along  the  lines  of  their  programs,  which  the 
multitudes  of  clubs  accept,  and  so  feel  the  current  of  thought 
which  is  stirring  the  hearts  of  women  all  over  our  land.  And 
I  would  also  urge  you  to  keep  on  file  for  your  members  the 
Woman's  Journal,  of  Boston,  which  will  give  you  weekly,  full 
reports  of  woman's  activity,  in  all  lines,  the  world  over,— and 
a  marvelous  activity  it  surely  is,— as  you  will  there  find." 

Letter  from  Madame  Severance  to  the  Century  Club,  of 
San  Francisco : 

"Dear  friends  and  members  of  the  Century  Club:— My  per- 
sonal presence  in  your  club  has  been  infrequent,  but  my  mem- 
ories of  those  opportunities  of  your  club  life  in  general  have 
been  a  joy  to  me  always.  When  last  with  you  I  had  a  hope  that 
my  friend,  Miss  Peel,  would  find  at  least  a  temporary  home 
in  your  city,  and  we  pleased  ourselves  with  the  idea  of  pre- 
senting you,  as  our  joint  gift,  a  copy  of  the  bust  of  myself 
which  she  had  already  made  for  the  Friday  Morning  Club  of 
Los  Angeles.  Meantime,  Miss  Peel  has  been  'called  up  higher' 
by  her  own  government,  as  an  Art  Commissioner  from  Canada 
to  the  Paris  Exposition,  and  I  am  left  to  perform  the  pleasant 
task. 

"Receive  the  gift,  dear  ladies,  as  a  token  of  my  ardent  de- 
sire to  be  always  with  you,  enjoying  keenly  the  wit  and  wis- 
dom which  flow  there  so  spontaneously  and  richly.  It  will  be 
also  a  mute  reminder,  I  trust,  of  the  high  aim  and  noble  service 
for  which  our  club  life  is,  I  am  confident,  more  and  more  to 
stand ;  a  reminder  that  culture,  by  the  testimony  of  our  highest 
American  authority,  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson,  'is  only  a  means 
to  an  end,'  and  that  we  as  individuals  and  as  a  people  are  only 
safe  and  sane  and  wise  when  we  look  well  to  the  ways  of  all, 
the  homes  of  all  our  people,  and  see  that  the  foundations  of  our 
so-called  order  are  built  upon  the  love  and  justice  which  alone 
shall  endure. 


Cfte   ^otftet    of   Clii&0  69 

"With  this  little  preachment  go  my  heartiest  wishes  for  a 
glad  New  Year  and  many  more  like  unto  it,  and  my  faith  in 
your  future  welfare  and  even  broader  service." 

GENERAL  FEDERATION. 

At  the  opening  meeting  of  the  General  Federation  of 
Women's  Clubs  held  in  Los  Angeles  in  1902,  its  president,  Mrs. 
Dimies  T.  C.  Denison,  expressed  her  appreciation  of  pioneer 
workers  in  the  club  movement  and  it  was  then  moved  that 
Caroline  M.  Severance  be  made  honorary  president  of  the  con- 
vention and  honorary  vice-president  of  the  General  Federation. 

Amid  great  applause  the  motion  was  unanimously  carried, 
the  assembly  rising  in  a  body.  Mrs.  Severance  was  escorted 
to  the  speaker's  stand,  and,  embowered  among  thousands  of 
festooned  roses,  with  a  deep  light  in  her  large  blue  eyes  and 
a  smile  of  loving  response  upon  her  lips,  the  venerable  Mother 
of  Clubs  bowed  her  thanks  and  spoke  in  a  clear  voice  that 
could  be  heard  to  the  furthest  corner  of  the  vast  auditorium. 

She  said  in  part :  ' '  My  own  prof  oundest  wish,  my  unquench- 
able longing  (and  faith  as  well)  is  that  the  power  of  organized 
womanhood  in  our  clubs  and  in  all  kindred  efforts  by  women 
toward  social  betterment  and  the  safety  of  the  home,  should 
make  and  will  make  its  united  protest  against  war,— that 
ghastly  anachronism  of  our  civilization  and  our  century,  with  its 
inevitable  barbarities  and  horrors,  and  its  utter  insanity  as  a 
normal  or  Christian  method  for  adjusting  the  differences  of 
nations.  Upon  woman  fall  the  heaviest  burdens,  the  cruelest 
anguish  of  war.  It  is  she  who  furnishes  the  most  indispensable 
munitions  of  war— the  soldiers  of  the  battlefield.  I  urge  you, 
oh,  club  women  of  the  country,  to  make  united  protest  against 


ADDRESS    OF   MADAME    SEVERANCE    BEFORE    THE    BIENNIAL 
SESSION  OF  1902. 

"I  am  deeply  sensible  of  the  honor  which  this  recognition 
of  my  early  service  and  abiding  interest  in  club  life  for  women 


TO  cfce    Q@  at  Set    of   C 1 1160 


has  brought  to  me  today.  That  recognition,  and  this  gath- 
ering here,  mean  vastly  more  to  me,  in  vivid  retrospect  and  in 
keen  delight,  than  it  can  mean  to  any  one,  or  all,  of  you. 

"I  have  recalled  elsewhere  the  first  impulse  which  came  to 
me  toward  a  truer,  broader  fellowship  of  women  than  had  been 
then  known.  When,  at  an  informal  meeting  of  the  board  of  our 
Friday  Morning  Club,  a  few  years  ago,  each  was  asked  over  the 
coffee  and  the  cake  what  she  considered  the  most  remarkable 
an.d  fruitful  discovery  of  the  nineteenth  century,  my  spontan- 
eous reply  was,  *  The  discovery  of  woman  by  herself. '  My  com- 
rades perhaps  thought  it  only  a  fresh  airing  of  an  old  hobby, 
but  indeed,  dear  friends,  the  achievements  of  organized  woman- 
hood, since  this  awakening  to  the  scope  of  her  abilities  and 
duties  and  to  the  endless  vista  of  possibilities  which  lie  before 
her,— this  wonderful  beginning  upon  the  new  day— fully  jus- 
tifies my  seemingly  audacious  remark. 

"When  one  looks  over  the  field  which  woman,  in  such  a  brief 
space  of  time,  has  already  won— both  within  and  without  the 
limits  of  her  new  club  life  and  despite  the  many  barriers  to  be 
overcome,— the  gains  seem  magical,  indeed  almost  miraculous. 
This  gathering,  dear  friends,  in  its  numbers  and  the  vaster  ma- 
jorities which  it  represents,  in  its  inspiring  enthusiasm  and  the 
uplift  of  the  new  and  tender  comradeship  which  has  leaped 
all  bounds  of  denominations,  society  and  class,  and  rests  on  the 
strong  basis  of  simple  womanhood— in  its  aims,  needs  and  re- 
sponsibilities,—does  not  this  eclipse  all  the  vaunted  mechanical 
inventions  and  discoveries,  all  advances  in  art  and  literature? 
Does  it  not  hold  in  its  hands  a  force  which  can  and  must  pur- 
ify, exalt  and  perpetuate  all  these,  a  force  which  once  thorough- 
ly organized  for  its  helpful  work  in  the  world,  will  surely  bring 
the  reign  of  justice  and  of  love  to  this  beautiful  world  of  ours, 
thus  making  it  the  Kingdom  of  Heaven  on  Earth,  foreseen  by 
the  prophets,  promised  by  the  poets,  prayed  for  by  the  saints,— 
by  saints,  however,  who  have  not  always  realized  that  'work  is 
worship '  ?  Inasmuch  as  it  is  done  unto  the  least  and  humblest 
of  the  brethren  it  is  done  unto  the  highest  and  holiest.  None 
are  saved  alone. 


Cfte    Qpotfiet    of    Clu&0  71 


"Yes,  dear  friends,  when  I  look  upon  you  here,  I  feel  that  I 
have  not  lagged  superfluous  on  the  stage,  since  my  eyes  are 
blessed  by  so  soul-stirring  a  sight  as  this,— a  sight  so  far  be- 
yond my  early  dreams  as  it  is  possible  should  come  in  my  own 
short  span  of  years." 

THE  BIENNIAL  AND  ITS  AFTERMATH. 
(Read  Before  the  Friday  Morning  Club  of  Los  Angeles.) 

"A  poet  has  written  lines  apropos  of  another  matter  which 
emphasizes  the  late  gathering,  by  contrast : 

It  charms  awhile,  the  listening  throng, 
But,  with  the  days  man  never  can  recall, 

It  faints  and  fades  and  vanishes,  ere  long 
In  the  vast  silence  which  receiveth  all. 

"It  did  charm  awhile,  our  Biennial,  but  did  not  vanish  into 
the  vast  silence.  Critics  may  doubt  and  penny-a-liners  carp, 
and  unsympathetic  editors  may  cudgel  their  brains  to  turn  in- 
nocent incidents  into  sensational  paragraphs,  and  to  manu- 
facture facts  from  their  own  inner  consciousness,  but  we  who 
know  it  best  in  its  progress  day  by  day ;  in  its  aims  and  in  its  re- 
sults, feel  that,  like  Tennyson's  'Brook',  its  influence  will  go  on 
forever  with  ever  widening  and  increasing  volume.  After  this 
lapse  of  time  we  are  better  able  to  take  account  of  stock  than 
in  its  rushing  business  hours.  To  begin  at  the  beginning,  it 
is  a  fact  of  large  import  that  thousands  of  women  traversed 
the  many  miles  and  endured  the  fatiguing  trip,  to  gather  in 
council  on  common  needs  and  interests  and  in  the  broadest 
freedom  of  utterance  and  fellowship. 

"Next,  it  was  an  object  lesson  in  the  business  ability  of  the 
women  who  managed  so  large  an  affair,  carrying  out  every  de- 
tail to  perfection ;  comfortably  housing  and  caring  for  the  large 
number  of  delegates,  providing  for  their  ease  and  artistic  de- 
light at  the  auditorium,  even  to  the  attendance  of  skilled  phy- 
icians;  and  the  unique  shower  of  rose  petals  from  the  galleries 
as  a  fitting  farewell. 


72  Cfie    (©otfter    of   Clubs 


1 1  The  program  and  its  rendering  made  also  a  creditable  show- 
ing of  woman's  ability,  in  the  consideration  of  matters  which 
vitally  concern  herself,  in  the  home,  the  city  and  the  state,  and 
in  her  handling  of  the  closely  packed  and  eager  crowds  who 
thronged  the  sessions.  One  omission  from  the  program,  some 
of  us  lamented  deeply  and  strove  to  rectify  in  an  informal  way, 
—the  protest  against  war  which  lies  latent  in  every  mother's 
heart  and  which  needs  especial  and  united  utterance  just  now. 
It  was  brought  to  the  surface  by  the  hearty  response  of  the 
vast  audience  to  the  brief  appeal  made  and,  notably,  to  the 
thrilling  poem,  'The  Feet  of  the  Young  Men  are  at  the  Door,' 
written  by  Mrs.  Mary  Austin  and  read  by  our  oldest  resident 
and  club-member,  Mrs.  Marcus  Spring. 

"  Again,  our  Biennial  made  a  creditable  record  for  itself  by 
its  calm  and  just  treatment  of  the  'color  question,'  which 
was  dealt  with  in  the  spirit  of  the  Golden  Rule  and  under  the 
honest  conviction  that,  with  political  freedom  not  even  yet  se- 
curely gained  for  our  Afro- American  citizens,  their  social  equal- 
ity can  only  come  through  'the  slow  process  of  the  suns.'  In 
this  discussion  we  were  in  line  with,  and  were  influenced  by, 
the  impartial  opinion  of  the  acknowledged  leaders  of  that  race 
and  of  the  calmest  thinkers  of  our  own.  Aside  from  Booker 
Washington's  attitude,  we  had  the  entreaty  of  the  bishops  of 
the  colored  churches  not  to  jeopardize  the  fellowship,  so  help- 
ful they  affirmed,  to  both  races,  by  introducing  even  in  dis- 
cussion an  element  of  discord  which  could  reach  only  a  fore- 
gone conclusion,  in  the  present  temper  of  the  public  mind. 

"We  may  be  very  sure  that  the  action  of  the  northern  major- 
ity, in  this  matter,  was  not  influenced  by  any  fear  that  the  ad- 
mission of  colored  Clubs  would,  in  itself,  be  a  menace  to  the 
harmony  and  work  of  the  Federation,  since  it  is  not  thinkable 
that  there  would  be  any  such  rush  of  these  clubs  as  to  work 
mischief  by  their  numbers,  or  that  they  would  gain  admission 
to  any  northern  Clubs  except  as  they  came  under  the  proper 
qualifications  of  education  and  character.  Nor  was  there  any 
force  in  the  position  of  some  opposers  that  this  admission 


C6e   figjot&er    of   C I  it  60  73 

would  mean  the  opening  to  them  of  private  homes,  since  it  does 
not  now  involve  that  intimacy  within  the  circle  of  our  clubs 
of  white  members.  As  to  the  other  'bugbear,'  the  mixing  of  the 
races,  let  us  remember  that  it  is  not  yet  a  frequent  result  of  the 
presence  and  opportunities  of  the  two  races  in  the  North,  while, 
as  a  spicy  writer  puts  it,  'the  fact  of  the  frequent  presence  of 
the  mulatto  in  the  South  shows  that  exclusion  from  social 
equality  has  not  prevented  the  mixing  of  the  races.' 

"We  may  comfort  themselves,  also,  that  the  best  authorities 
among  us  understand  the  condition  under  the  late  action  of  the 
Federation  to  be  that  the  states  have  a  right  to  admit  colored 
clubs  to  their  own  Federations,  on  their  own  terms;  but  that 
the  general  Federation  committee  has  the  final  vote  as  to  ad- 
mission to  the  larger  membership.  Already  the  Afro-Amer- 
ican women  are  doing  a  good  work  in  organizing  their  own 
single  clubs  and  National  Federation.  They  surely  have  the 
hearty  good-will  and  will  have  the  sympathetic  help  of  their 
more  experienced  sisters. 

"Our  Biennial  was  a  Pentecost— a  spiritual  feast— to  me,  who 
had  seen  the  seed  sown  in  weakness  on  the  Atlantic  Coast,  not 
many  years  ago,  to  behold  the  magnificent  blossoming  here  on 
the  Pacific  shore.  It  was  a  great  privilege  to  be  able  to  meet 
and  greet  the  host  of  dear  women  whom  my  age  would  forbid 
my  meeting  elsewhere;  to  welcome  under  my  own  roof  the 
noble  workers  from  not  only  the  Northern  States,  but  also  from 
the  South,  the  brave  Southern  women  who  have  risen  at  a 
bound  from  their  former  luxury  and  are  reaching  after  the 
better  things  that  are  before  us  all.  Marvelous  to  me  has  been 
their  progress,  in  self-help  and  therefore  in  human  helpfulness, 
as  I  have  followed  it  not  only  in  the  daily  press,  but  in  Mrs. 
Croly's  'Club  Movement  in  America.'  It  well  nigh  parallels 
the  growth  of  the  Western  States  under  their  earlier  exper- 
iences. 

"And  so  we  march  on  in  solid  phalanx  to  our  peaceful  con- 
quests and  shall  at  last  see,  eye  to  eye,  from  the  same  point  of 
vision,  it  may  be." 


Cfie    fi@ot&er    of    Clu&s 


BEFORE  THE  FRIDAY  MORNING  CLUB. 

(1902.) 

"I  think  I  do  not  need  to  ask  unanimous  consent  to  speak  to  a 
question  of  personal  privilege,  as  is  common  in  Congress.  What 
I  wish  to  say  will  be  pertinent  to  the  last  topic  before  us  and  so 
not  out  of  order. 

'  '  I  find  that  I  was  much  misunderstood  in  my  few  and  hasty 
remarks  at  a  late  club  session.  Even  my  daughter  from  Boston, 
who  was  with  us  on  that  occasion,  felt  that  I  might  be  called  a 
backslider  from  my  past  position  on  the  question  of  the  free- 
dom of  the  slave.  My  intention  was  only  to  endorse  the  posi- 
tion of  the  General  Federation  in  recommending  the  remand- 
ing of  the  admission  of  colored  clubs  to  the  State  Federations, 
and  not  to  endorse  the  proposition  to  engraft  the  word  'white' 
upon  the  constitution  of  our  National  Federation.  I  thought 
then,  as  I  surely  think  now,  that  the  forcing  of  colored  clubs 
upon  the  south,  in  the  Federation,  would  be  as  unfair  and  as 
unwise  as  for  the  southern  clubs  to  force  the  word  '  white  '  into 
our  constitution.  For,  consider,  dear  friends,  that  we  must  first 
'cast  the  beam  out  of  our  own  eye.'  Aside  from  Massachu- 
setts, 'the  foremost  state  of  the  world's  civilization,'  as  George 
William  Curtis  was  fond  of  calling  it—  and  a  very  few  other 
northern  States,  colored  women  are  not  received  into  clubs  of 
white  women,  or  into  our  social  life. 

"You  all  remember  the  late  sad  struggle  in  the  Woman's 
Club  of  Chicago,  over  the  admission  of  a  single  colored  woman 
—one  of  education  and  unexceptionable  character.  While  we 
live  in  glass  houses  as  clubs,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  must  not 
cast  stones  at  our  southern  sisters.  White  women  of  both 
North  and  South  must  first  be  educated  to  the  point  of  draw- 
ing the  line  of  social  fellowship  at  education,  character  and 
good  breeding. 

"Booker  Washington,  who  is  the  present  leader  of  his  race, 
beseeches  his  people  to  seek  neither  political  nor  social  position, 
but  to  make  their  own  place  by  industry,  integrity  and  honor- 
able success  and,  in  due  time,  all  other  things  will  be  added 


Cfte    auotfier    of   Clu60  75 


unto  them.  His  own  magnificent  career  justifies  his  words  and 
is  an  object  lesson  to  both  races.  Out  of  the  depths,  he  has  risen 
to  a  height  of  recognition  in  our  own  country  and  abroad, 
which  many  of  those  who  have  condemned  his  race  to  perpetual 
servitude,  have  never  reached,  and  can  never  reach  themselves. 
"At  this  point,  let  me  say  that  the  crimes  so  strongly  con- 
demned in  that  race  are  only  duplicates  of  those  committed 
by  white  criminals  in  all  of  our  States,  and  are  such  as  might  be 
expected  from  the  examples  set  by  many  white  masters  under 
slavery,  toward  the  women  of  the  subject  race. 

"In  holding  these  opinions  in  regard  to  the  admission  of  the 
colored  clubs,  I  do  not  abate  a  jot  my  early  desire  for  the 
political  freedom  of  the  race— as  of  all  races.  And  I  am  amazed 
at  the  illogical  position  of  Americans  of  culture  and  broad 
views,  who  can  draw  the  line  at  color,  in  the  case  of  our  own 
southern  blacks,  while  receiving  socially  representatives  of 
other  dark  races,  Spanish,  Italian,  East  Indian,  etc.,  and  giving 
them  national  recognition  and  honors.  But  all  this  will  pass, 
as  I  so  often  say  of  other  wrong  and  ignorance,  by  the  sure 
appeal  of  truth  and  justice  to  time.  So  let  us  possess  our  souls 
in  patience,  while  we  help,  as  in  us  lies,  to  bring  that  better 
time  for  individuals  and  for  nations." 


MADAME  SEVERANCE  AT  THE  VENICE  ASSEMBLY,  INTRODUC- 
ING SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY,  JULY,  1905. 

"I  count  it  one  of  the  rare  privileges  of  my  life  to  stand  here 
before  you  today,  side  by  side  with  my  pioneer  friend  and  our 
brave  and  beloved  leader,  Susan  B.  Anthony,  as  well  as  with 
these  other  valiant  workers. 

"It  carries  me  back  to  the  early  fifties,  when  we  met  with  the 
few  but  fit  women  who  were  wise  enough  to  see  and  who  had 
hearts  large  enough  to  feel  the  disabilities  of  our  sex,  under 
our  'free  government/  and  who  were  courageous  enough  to 
stand  on  the  platform  of  our  heroic  forefathers  and  claim  their 
rights  as  citizens  and  as  taxpayers,  under  our  boasted  Declar- 
ation. 


76  Ce    fiot)er    of 


"What  an  interval  of  struggle,  of  scorn,  of  abuse,  between 
that  early  time  and  this,  between  the  egg-throwing  and  the 
jeers  and  the  flower-laden  platforms,  the  newspaper  eulogies, 
even  the  pulpit  fellowship,  now  accorded  us !  Let  us  thank  God 
and  the  brave  pioneers  and  take  courage,  although  so  much 
yet  remains  to  be  conquered  in  social  life  and  in  civic  life. 

"I  greet  in  the  name  of  the  elders  of  the  cause  everywhere 
our  ardent  and  active  successors  and  feel  (almost)  like  Simeon, 
'ready  to  depart,'  since  we  now  see  the  salvation  of  the  sex  and 
of  the  race  looming  on  the  horizon.  I  give  as  our  bequest  to 
them  this  appeal  of  the  poet : 

How  prayest  thou  on  altar  stairs 

For  God  to  do  His  will! 
Go  forth!     Thou  art  His  instrument, 

And  thine  own  wish  fulfill. 


A  LETTER  WRITTEN  FOR  THE  EIGHTY-FIFTH  BIRTHDAY 
OF  ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON: 

"Dear  Friends :— I  am  most  happy  to  lay  my  'rose  leaf  on  the 
mantling  tide  of  loyalty'  to  one  of  the  noble,  historic  women 
of  our  day,— a  mere  rose  leaf,  alas,  when  I  should  be  glad  if  it 
were  the  laurel  crown  of  which  her  brow  is  so  worthy  and  which 
posterity  will  surely  place  there. 

"A  fortunate  little  town  was  humble  Johnstown,  N.  J.,  to  be 
the  birthplace,  on  a  November  day  of  1815,  of  our  revered 
friend  who  is  now  known  and  honored  in  all  civilized  lands. 
A  fortunate  day,  also,  was  it  for  the  sex  which  she  has  so  grac- 
iously adorned  and  so  loyally  defended. 

"The  tributes  and  the  gathering  in  her  honor  today  bear 
witness  to  the  fact  that  a  creditable  minority,  at  least,  of  her 
sex  are  free  from  the  charge  of  ingratitude,  and  we  bid  her 
'all  hail'  to  this  reward  of  merit  which  she  has  so  richly  earned. 

"The  lesson  of  such  a  life  as  hers  is  not  only  a  blessing  and  a 
delight  to  those  who  have  shared  it,  but  it  will  be  an  inspiration 
to  the  youth  of  all  time.  Others  will  fully  and  ably  enforce  the 


Cfte   £©otf)er    of    Clu60  77 

lesson  of  that  life  while  I,  in  failing  strength,  will  only  bear 
my  personal  testimony  to  the  noble  satisfaction  of  her  fellow- 
ship, to  her  brilliant  capacity  as  advocate,  to  her  unflinching 
devotion  to  the  welfare  of  her  sex  and  of  the  race— at  the  cost 
of  great  misconception  and  abuse. 

"She  might  have  won  and  honored  the  role  of  brilliant 
scholar,  or  of  queen  of  society,  or  of  a  kingdom ;  besides  her 
acquisitions  as  a  student  and  her  rare  ability  as  a  writer,  de- 
bater and  orator,  the  power  of  her  stately  presence  and  the 
poise  given  by  the  finest  social  opportunities,  she  had  the  gift 
of  ready  repartee.  One  instance  of  this  I  now  recall,  told  me  by 
an  eye-witness.  The  railway  car  and  its  appointments  must  be 
imagined  for  the  setting  of  the  picture.  The  distinguished  oc- 
cupant was  approached  by  an  audacious  unknown,  who  enter- 
tained her  with  his  arguments  against  woman  suffrage  until  his 
words,  or  his  breath,  gave  out.  Then  our  majestic  friend,  from 
the  contrasting  height  of  her  commanding  proportions  swept 
her  gaze  deliberately  from  crown  to  heel  of  the  puny  manikin, 
and  in  the  most  untroubled  tone  assured  him  that  'she  did  not 
fear  that  he  would  seriously  block  the  wheels  of  progress. '  It 
was  a  deserved  rebuke — a  scene  which  those  who  know  her  can 
well  make  actual.  This  is  not  the  serious  side  of  our  friend's 
nature,  but  it  was  one  which  added  greatly  to  her  power  and 
her  charm. 

"  Peace  be  to  her,  the  peace  which  she  has  helped  to  bring 
about,  the  peace  which  her  superb  courage  and  true  heart  have 
helped  to  win  for  all  women  of  the  future.  With  our  noble 
Lucretia  Mott,  our  beloved  and  brave  Lucy  Stone,  our  still  liv- 
ing and  heroic  Susan  B.  Anthony,  she  has  done  yeoman  serv- 
ice for  the  women  of  today.  Under  such  leaders,  and  their  later 
recruits,  no  just  cause  could  suffer  defeat,  and  with  the  memory 
of  such  leaders,  no  woman  need  blush  for  her  sex,  or  doubt  the 
triumph  of  its  future. ' ' 


VI. 

CONTRIBUTIONS  TO  CURRENT  THOUGHT. 

PEACE   MEMOEIAL. 

In  January,  1899,  Madame  Severance,  being  deeply  impressed 
by  the  calling  of  the  Conference  at  The  Hague,  felt  impelled  to 
set  on  foot  an  effort  to  rally  the  large  membership  of  the 
Woman's  Clubs,  through  their  state  presidents,  officers  and 
prominent  members,  to  the  help  of  the  cause  which  is  so  vital 
to  the  interests  of  the  home  and  so  dear  to  the  hearts  of  all 
thoughtful  mothers. 

She  therefore  drew  up  the  following  memorial  to  be  cir- 
culated among  the  clubs,  but  it  was  already  so  near  the  time 
of  the  Conference  that  she  could  reach  but  a  small  number. 
Madame  Severance  signed  a  copy  of  the  Memorial  with  her 
club  title,  as  being  the  representative  of  a  large  and  weighty 
constituency,  and  asked  for  signatures  of  other  representative 
women,— club  presidents  and  officials,  and,  for  an  active  canvass 
as  rapidly  as  possible. 

Hon.  A.  D.  White,    United    States    Commissioner    to    Hague 
Conference. 

Gentlemen  and  Brothers  :— 

We,  the  undersigned,  come  before  you  as  women,  from  the 
homes  of  our  favored  and  beloved  land— its  daughters,  sisters, 
wives,  and  the  mothers  of  its  sons. 

We  represent  the  large  membership  of  the  organized  bodies 
of  the  women  of  our  country,  and  we  beg  of  you  in  their  name 
that  you  respond  heartily  and  endorse  practically  the  noble 
and  inspiring  manifesto  of  the  "Czar  of  all  the  Russias,"  look- 
ing to  progressive  disarmament  of  all  civilized  nations,  in  the 
interest  of  permanent  peace  and  human  welfare. 

78 


Cfte    fi©otfter    of   Clubs  79 

We  regret  keenly  that  our  Republic  has  not  taken  the  initia- 
tive in  a  movement  so  in  line  with  its  best  traditions,  and  its 
position  among  the  progressive  nations  of  the  world.  But  we 
must  believe  that  our  nation  now  earnestly  seconds  this  appeal 
of  the  Czar,  and  will  so  place  itself  on  record,  without  delay,  and 
we  implore  you  gentlemen,  as  its  standard  bearers,  to  do  this 
in  the  interests  of  civilization,  education,  society,  religion,  and 
particularly  of  the  home,  which  is,  at  once,  the  best  product 
of  these  and  the  true  basis  of  their  progress  and  well-being. 

We  beg,  also,  to  call  your  attention  to  the  pathetic  vow  of 
the  women  of  some  provinces  in  Spain,  to  bear  no  more  sons  for 
the  butchery  of  the  battlefield,  a  protest  against  the  horrors  of 
war  which  comes  from  the  hearts  of  bereaved  women  in  their 
desolated  homes,  and  must  thrill  and  find  an  echo  in  the  souls 
of  all  true  mothers,  and  of  all  women  who  are  unbiased  by 
partisan  or  conventional  influences. 

We  women,  the  mothers  of  your  sons,  forming  one-half  of  the 
human  race,  but  having  in  State  affairs  "no  language  but  a 
cry,"  even  in  this  freest  commonwealth  of  the  globe,  beseech  you 
to  heed  this,  our  appeal,  and  thus  the  right  of  woman  to  a  hear- 
ing in  these  momentous  matters,  which  so  vitally  affect  her 
and  the  peace  and  safety  of  the  home  and  of  the  race.  May  we 
not  safely  trust  to  your  magnanimity,  your  sense  of  justice  as 
statesmen,  your  honor  as  gentlemen,  and  your  responsibility 
as  fathers? 

May  we  not  hope  to  see  through  you,  at  the  coming  con- 
ference, the  superb  spectacle  of  international  brotherhood, 
worthy  of  the  end  of  our  remarkable  century,  and  of  the  poets 
—our  modern  prophets,— who  have  foreseen  and  rejoiced  in 
the  better  time  when  nations  shall  learn  war  no  more,  but 
unite  on  a  "holy  alliance"  of  "peace  and  good  will  to  all  men," 

A  parliament  of  nations, 
The  Federation  of  the  world? 

Then  can  the  menacing  and  pressing  problems  of  our  times 


so  c&e    Qjjot&er    of    Clu60 

find  their  humane  and  just  solution,  and  you,  brothers,  may  reap 
the  gratitude  of  all  coming  time  for  your  share  in  this  result. 

CAROLINE  M.  SEVERANCE, 
Founder  and  first  president  of  the  New  England  Woman's 

Club,  at  Boston,  Mass. 
Los  Angeles,  Jan.  15,  1899. 

This  memorial  was  signed  by  many  prominent  women, 
among  whom  were,  for  California,  Phoebe  Hearst,  Jane  L.  Stan- 
ford, Mrs.  David  Starr  Jordan,  Ellen  Sargent,  and  others; 
Julia  Ward  Howe,  Clara  Barton,  Mary  A.  Livermore,  and  many 
others  in  the  East. 

In  regard  to  this  memorial,  Mrs.  Mary  A.  Livermore  wrote 
Madame  Severance,  under  date  of  Feb.  3,  1899:  "No  one  ob- 
jects in  the  least  to  your  ' Memorial'  on  the  subject  of  the 
Czar's  Peace  Conference.  The  topic  is  in  our  minds  continually 
and  we  are  much  stirred  up  over  it.  To  my  letters  there  have 
come  postal  card  replies,  always  endorsing  your  scheme.  The 
great  objection  is  the  brevity  of  the  time.  If  we  can  get  to- 
gether a  half-dozen  live  young  women  to  help,  we  can  put  your 
plan  through  in  ten  days,  or  a  fortnight."  On  February  8,  Mrs. 

Livermore  wrote:  " 1  am  entirely  willing  to  put  my  name 

to  the  Memorial,  and  so  are  many  others,  who  can  do  no  work. 
Hoping  something  may  come  of  it,—  — ."  March  3,  the  same 
able  assistant  wrote:  "We  now  have  held  three  meetings  of 
women  interested  in  the  scheme  of  your  letters  and  have,  at 
last,  reached  conclusions.  We  shall,  therefore,  hold  a  Woman's 
Peace  meeting  in  Trernont  Temple,  on  Monday,  April  3.  There 
will  be  mass  meetings  in  the  same  place  on  the  four  preceding 
Mondays.  Ours  will  be  the  fifth.  We  shall  distribute  literature 
and  urge  people  to  buy  books,  in  cheap  form,  like  Charles 
Sumner's  'True  Grandeur  of  Nations— in  Peace/  which  in 
paper  covers  can  be  sold  for  a  trifle.  The  women's  meeting  will 
come  out  squarely  for  an  'International  Court  of  Arbitration/ 
and  we  shall  try  to  make  a  permanent  thing  of  it.  So  you  see,  my 
dear  friend,  if  we  have  not  carried  out  your  plans,  we  are  going 
to  do  something  better,— stir  up  the  people  at  home  to  work  for 


Cfte    agotftet    of    €lub$          si 

universal  peace.  Your  petition  and  other  documents  are  circu- 
lating among  the  clubs." 

May  24,  she  writes :  ' '  We  had  2,500  people  at  our  mass  meet- 
ing, excellent  short  speeches,  which  were  heard  everywhere; 
we  passed  strong  resolutions.  The  report  of  the  meeting,  with 
the  number  in  attendance,  names  of  leading  officers  and  the 
full  resolutions  were  sent  to  the  Russian  legation,  translated 
into  Russian  and  forwarded  to  the  Czar  at  St.  Petersburg,  to 
be  presented  at  the  Peace  Conference  at  the  Hague.  We  raised 
in  all  some  $250  to  $300  for  Peace  literature  and  every  woman's 
organization  in  Massachusetts  has  been  supplied  with  it,  as  we 
purchased  it  cheaply." 

Miss  Clara  Barton  wrote  on  January  25,  1899:  "I  am  in 
sympathy  with  the  spirit  which  inspired  the  manifesto  of  the 
Czar.  I  think  he  should  have  the  sympathy  of  all  civilized 
nations.  With  the  warmest  interest  in  your  grand  movement 
and  hoping  for  its  success  at  a  very  early  date,  I  am,  yours 
most  cordially." 

Mrs.  May  Wright  Sewall  wrote  May  17,  1899:  "I  see  by 
your  letter  that  we  have  already  done  what  you  wished  us  to  do. 
I  have  received  reports,  also,  from  fifty-eight  meetings  held  on 
May  15,  at  which  were  present  27,482,  representing  85,291 
women,  who  had  voted  for  our  resolution  to  the  Peace  Confer- 
ence. It  is  beautiful,  my  dear  Mrs.  Severance,  to  realize  that  in 
all  parts  of  our  country,  the  hearts  of  women  are  united  in  a 
common  purpose  for  the  elevation  of  humanity.  I  remain, 
sincerely  yours,  Mrs.  May  Wright  Sewall,  Vice-President  at 
large,  of  the  International  Council  of  Women." 

WORDS  TO  MOTHERS. 
(A  club  paper  read  by  Madame  Severance.) 

The  bearing  and  the  training  of  a  child 
Is  woman's  wisdom. 

—Tennyson. 

Dear  women  of  many  burdens  and  anxious  hours,  who  are 
yet  faithful  to  the  supreme  trust  of  motherhood  : 


82          Cbe    fi@  o  1 6  e  r    of    Clubs 


There  be  those,  a  multitude,  perhaps,  in  our  rapid  and  reck- 
less time,  who  are  willing  to  rush  on  their  giddy  way  of  mis- 
called pleasure,  content  in  their  own  ignorance,  or  even  boastful 
in  their  inexperience,  of  their  own  superior  wisdom  in  the  care 
of  their  little  ones.  This  is  the  spirit  of  our  Young  America 
carried  over  into  the  new  relation  of  parenthood  and  is,  in 
effect,  an  arraignment  of  the  divine  order  which  sets  the  parent 
before  and  over  the  child,  that  it  may  have  the  benefit  of  the 
elder's  experience  and  wisdom.  For,  if  one  has  had  experience, 
one  should  be  wiser  therefrom  and  better  able  to  guide  suc- 
cessfully the  younger  feet  on  their  unknown  path.  This  wisdom 
should  be  definitely  and  religiously  treasured  for  the  help  of 
the  dear,  dependent  ones,  and  by  those  who  enter  in  this  spirit 
upon  their  paternal  duties,  the  counsel  of  other  parents  is 
gladly  welcomed. 

It  is  to  such  parents  that  I  venture  a  few  results  of  my  own 
reading  and  studious  observation.  I  will  not  "  begin  at  the 
beginning,"  today— the  first  and  fundamental  right  of  the 
child  to  be  well-born,  of  sound,  clean,  harmonious  parents. 
This  right,  although  a  somewhat  modern  idea,  has  been  so 
frequently  and  so  forcibly  presented,  and  is  so  evidently  based 
upon  good  sense  and  the  ethics  of  the  golden  rule,  that  one  may 
now  assume  it  as  a  self-evident  proposition  and  be  sure  of  its 
universal  acceptance,  in  due  time. 

The  child  is,  like  its  elders,  an  air  plant  and  gets  its  food  in 
as  large  a  proportion  from  the  air  as  from  the  earth.  This  fact 
is  absolutely  and  exactly  proven  by  the  latest  researches  of  our 
investigating  age.  Indeed,  some  of  our  most  careful  scientists 
have  declared,  as  the  result  of  their  experiments,  that  they  can 
give  the  exact  proportions  necessary  of  pure  air  for  the  proper 
digestion  and  assimilation  of  food;  that  any  less  amount  of 
pure  air,  to  oxygenate  the  blood  with  which  it  comes  into  con- 
tact in  the  lungs,  leaves  the  half-digested  food  to  enter  the 
system  and  clog  the  tissues  and  thus  becomes  the  direct  cause 
of  numberless  colds,  nervous  derangements,  fevers  and  con- 
gestions, the  naturally  weak  organs,  in  any  case,  being  the  first 
or  chief  sufferers. 


Cfte    Q^otftet    of    Clu60  83 

This  fact  throws  light  upon  the  cause  of  much  infant  and 
adult  illness  and  is  most  helpful  towards  its  prevention.  Not 
drugs,  but  the  open  door  and  window  by  day  and  night !  Not 
tonics,  which  as  the  famous  Frenchman  said  of  all  drugs,  are 
1 '  things  of  which  we  know  nothing,  put  into  stomachs  of  which 
we  know  less ; ' '  not  these,  but  the  life-giving  air  of  forest  and 
ocean,  flowing  all  about  us  from  its  exhaustless  reservoir  of 
forty  miles  in  depth,  and  seeking  and  forcing  entrance  to  house 
and  to  lungs  at  every  moment  of  the  live-long  day  and  night ! 
Why  do  we— how  can  we— disregard  this  magnificent  provision 
for  our  well-being ;  why  do  we  turn  instead  and  put  our  trust 
in  the  difficult,  dangerous  and  expensive  substitutes  for 
fresh  air? 

The  dread  of  a  draught,  'the  shrinking  from  the  chill  of  pure, 
fresh  air  is  so  nearly  universal  and  so  extreme  with  many 
persons,  that  one  almost  suspects,  among  those  whose  profession 
it  is  to  treat  disease,  a  conspiracy  to  keep  the  people  ignorant, 
prejudiced  and  ailing.  Yet  we  cannot  believe  this  of  the  noble 
men  we  know  in  the  profession,  and  so  are  forced  'to  believe 
that  a  doctor  is  not  always  wise,  outside  of  his  materia  medica, 
when  we  find  closed  windows  and  doors  and  foul  air  in  his  own 
dwelling  and  in  those  of  his  patients  and  hear  his  emphatic 
orders  to  "  avoid  the  night  air,  by  all  means. " 

Pray,  is  night  air  less  pure  and  wholesome  than  the  stagnant, 
re-breathed  air  of  a  closed  house?  We  are  told  by  scientific 
authority  that  the  causes  of  impurity  in  the  air  are  respiration, 
stagnation,  combustion,  exhalations  from  marshes,  and  the 
smoke  and  dust  of  trades  and  towns ;  that  a  man  produces,  by 
breathing,  six  parts  of  a  cubic  foot  of  deadly  carbonic  acid  gas 
per  hour,  and  needs  a  room  ten  feet  in  height  and  twenty-two 
in  breadth,  for  perfect  health;  that  this  room  should  have,  in 
winter,  an  inch  opening  in  a  window  for  each  person  in  it; 
that  two  gas  burners  produce  as  much  carbonic  acid  gas  in  an 
hour,  as  do  ten  men,  and  other  lights,  their  proportion!  But 
that  the  carbonic  gas  from  these  lights  is  less  injurious  than  that 
of  the  re-breathed  air;  that  a  man  might  live  an  hour  in  a 
fair-sized  room,  hermetically  sealed,  if  a  candle  burning  in  the 


84          Cfte    8©  o  tier    of    Clubs 


room,  three-quarters  of  an  hour ;  if  a  lamp,  a  half -hour ;  if  two 
gas-burners,  five  minutes ;  and  that  it  is  by  far  more  healthful 
to  drink  unpurified  and  foul  river  water,  than  to  breathe  daily 
and  nightly,  the  air  of  unventilated  rooms;  that  there  is  no 
difference  in  town  and  country  air,  except  as  it  is  indoor  or 
outdoor  air;  the  ozone  of  the  sea-shore  is  never  found  in  the 
city  or  town  away  from  reach  of  the  sea. 

From  these  facts  we  may  learn,  with  horror,  how  far  the 
common  ignorance  is  responsible  for  the  many  discomforts  and 
numberless  diseases  which  afflict  our  race,  from  the  cradle 
upward;  we  may  learn  why  consumption  is  the  fell  destroyer 
which  it  now  is,  in  the  regions  where  life  is  largely  lived  within 
doors,  and  why  outdoor  climate  and  life  offer  the  best  conditions 
for  its  prevention  and  cure.  The  anxious  young  mother  thus 
finds  that  she  may  ward  off  disease  and  insure  robust  health 
for  her  dear  ones,  by  the  simple  use  of  fresh  air  and  other 
abundant  gifts  of  the  good  Father ;  and  she  finds  that  she  and 
the  earthly  father,  who  should  second  and  support  her  warmly 
in  this  joint  responsibility,  are— before  God  and  at  the  bar  of 
common  sense— guilty,  if  from  inheritance  or  environment, 
their  helpless  and  innocent  little  ones  are  doomed  to  early 
death  or  to  wretched  invalidism.  It  is  most  comforting  to 
know  that  the  means  for  avoiding  such  a  fate  for  the  little 
ones  are  ample  and  at  our  door. 

Where  in  life  can  be  found  more  solid  satisfaction  than  in  the 
close  fellowship  between  mother  and  child,  which  gives  her 
the  study  of  the  precious  young  soul  in  its  unfolding  and  in  its 
eager  curiosity  concerning  the  mysteries  of  the  world  it  enters, 
trailing  clouds  of  wonder  as  it  comes? 

THE  IDEAL  HOME. 

"Home  is  the  grandest  of  all  institutions. "— Spurgeon. 

Under  this  heading,  Madame  Severance  wrote  for  the  press 
in  1889,  as  follows: 

Both  the  exterior  and  interior  of  the  home  come  alike  under 
the  same  supreme  condition:  that  of  the  intellectual  develop- 


Cfte    ogotber    of    Ciu&0  35 

ment  of  its  owner  and  designer.  As  is  he  or  she,  so  is  his  or 
her  home,  in  its  essentials  and  its  ornamentation.  You  say,  the 
architect  is  betrayed  in  his  building.  But  no !  the  man  or  the 
woman  who  selects  the  architect,  is  responsible  for  him  and 
his  order  of  work.  Is  it  not  so?  It  is  easy  for  the  person  of 
trained  and  alert  eye  to  classify  the  residents  of  any  street, 
somewhat  accurately,  by  this  choice  of  architect,  hindered 
a  trifle  in  this— and  helped,  also— by  the  fact  that  each  archi- 
tect has  a  more  or  less  personal  style,  or  modification  of  one, 
which  he  is  tempted  to  apply  recklessly  to  all  "sorts  and  con- 
ditions" of  house  and  lot,  unless  forbidden  by  the  taste  or 
means  of  the  owner. 

A  person  of  fine  taste  may  sometimes,  it  is  true,  be  the  victim 
of  concurrent  circumstances,  and  buy  a  ready-made  house  under 
pressure— a  house  which  meets  his  needs  in  size,  location  and 
plan,  better  than  it  does  his  taste.  And  the  artistic  and  re- 
sourceful purchaser  often  modifies  his  purchase  by  such  deft 
touches  here  and  there  of  line  and  color,  or  of  addition  in 
appropriate  places,  that  it  grows  easily  into  a  thing  of  beauty 
and  satisfaction. 

One  can  only  write  of  homes  which  approach  one's  ideal, 
under  the  general  well-known  canons  of  simplicity,  of  propor- 
tion, of  fitness  to  climate  and  location,  to  the  demands  of  purse 
and  of  family-life,  and  'to  general  and  specific  surroundings. 
In  all  cases  climate  is  necessarily  the  item  of  first  importance. 
Given  so  unique  a  climate  as  ours  of  Southern  California,  one 
would  expect  it  to  be  hailed  gladly  as  a  helper  in  the  solution 
of  this  problem,  of  how  and  where  to  build  and  how  to  adorn 
one's  home.  For  it  really  meets  the  most  'trying  items  of  the 
problem,  making  it  a  pure  pleasure. 

Instead,  then,  of  the  styles  which  suit  the  winter-climate  of 
other  States,  and  which,  transplanted  here,  have  grown  too 
often  into  mongrel  specimens  of  foreign  style  and  other  times 
— we  should  adapt  our  Southern  California  homes,  first  of  all, 
to  the  climatic  conditions  which  prevail  here.  With  our  con- 
tinuous sunshine  through  most  of  the  year,  we  should  so  place 


86  Cfte    Sgot&er    of    C I  it  60 

our  houses  on  lot  and  street  as  to  welcome  it  into  all  our 
rooms,  especially  into  our  sleeping  rooms.  But  we  should  also 
secure  the  shelter  of  deciduous  vines  and  trees  from  the 
annoying  glare  and  enervating  heat  of  its  summer  noon-day 
beams.  Being  deciduous  shade  it  will  ensure  us  full  sunlight 
during  the  winter  months;  for  we  must  fain  confess  to 
'  *  winter  months, ' '  even  in  our  Lotus  Land,  although  to  tourists 
they  may  seem  only  a  lingering  of  summer  in  the  lap  of  autumn. 

But  the  cooler  months  are  to  be  reckoned  with,  here  as  else- 
where, although  on  a  different  scale ;  and  one  who  values  the 
first  requisite  of  health  and  comfort  will  surely  see  to  it  that 
the  best  of  artificial  heat  replaces  the  lost  sunlight,  on  the 
cool,  raw  days  that  come  with  our  rainy  season;  and  to  do 
this  by  the  most  healthful  and  the  least  costly  means,  where 
the  home  treasury  is  not  amply  filled;  for  here  too  comes  in 
a  weighty  factor  in  the  cost  of  fuel  in  our  almost  woodless 
land.  And  until  our  capitalists  furnish  and  our  monopolists 
allow  a  lower  freight  rate  on  the  coal  which  is  not  far  from 
our  doors,  or  to  the  gas  and  electricity  which  would  so  bless  the 
burdened  house-mother,  we  must  lament  and  protest,  and  waste 
our  substance  helplessly.  By  far  the  most  healthful  and  not 
the  least  costly  means  of  heating,  are  open  fireplaces  and  cellar 
furnaces,  on  a  small  scale ;  the  fireplace  securing  the  necessary 
ventilation  and  the  furnace  giving  opportunity  for  open  doors 
and  windows  at  all  times. 

The  prevailing  winds  must  also  be  carefully  considered  in 
building.  In  this  climate  it  is  well  to  leave  the  southwest  ex- 
posure of  the  house  fully  open  to  them  for  the  hot  summer 
months.  The  kitchen  should  be  placed  on  the  north  side,  when 
possible,  to  escape  any  unnecessary  addition  to  its  own  arti- 
ficial heat ;  the  piazzas  should  be  placed,  one  on  the  north  side 
for  the  shade  where  it  will  shut  out  no  direct  sunlight  in  winter, 
and  one  on  the  south  and  east  for  the  sun  on  cool,  clear  days. 
We  should  also  take  a  leaf  from  the  life  of  our  native  Spanish 
population,  and  adopt  the  court,  or  patio,  which  makes  the 
most  and  the  best  of  our  balmy,  sunny  air,  and  of  our  almost 


Cfie    £@otf)er    of    Clit&g  87 

daily  summer  breezes.  We  can  thus  create  an  ideal  meeting 
place  for  family  and  friends,  and  a  bower  of  beauty,  by  the 
use  of  tender  climbing  and  fragrant  plants  and  vines. 

KINDERGARTENS. 

It  may  be  observed  that  when  Madame  Severance  is  asked 
to  give  the  history  of  the  movements  that  she  herself  started, 
she  invariably  begins,  as  one  must  from  sheer  modesty  in  such 
cases,  by  placing  the  credit  upon  a  "small  group  of  women." 
But  in  all  organizations  there  is  a  central  and  centrifugal  first 
force  to  be  counted  on. 

This  applies  to  the  Los  Angeles  Free  Kindergarten  Asso- 
ciation, of  which  Mrs.  Severance  was  the  founder.  Of  it  she 
writes : 

"The  first  experimental  beginning  in  kindergarten  work 
in  our  city  was  made,  in  1876,  by  Miss  Emma  Marwedel,  for 
whom  Mrs.  Judge  Widney  and  myself  had  labored  diligently 
to  secure  pupils,  before  her  coming.  It  is  pleasant  to  remember 
that  Miss  Kate  Smith,  later  Mrs.  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin,  the 
well  known  author  and  an  authority  in  kindergarten  literature 
and  work,  had  her  first  training  under  Miss  Marwedel  in  this 
city.  Later,  with  the  help  of  Professor  Felix  Adler,  of  New 
York,  she  established  the  famous  and  beneficent  kindergarten 
work  in  San  Francisco,  which  is  a  delight  and  a  model  to  all 
kindergartners. 

1 '  Our  own  Free  Kindergarten  Association  had  its  beginning 
in  1885,  with  a  small  band  of  earnest,  thoughtful  and  public- 
spirited  women,  aided  by  sympathetic  husbands  and  friends, 
who  worked  faithfully  and  harmoniously  through  all  the  ob- 
stacles and  discouragements  of  that  early  time.  Knowledge 
of  the  value  of  this  new  departure  in  education  was  scant  and 
experience  in  this  frontier  state  was  even  less.  Ignorance  and 
indifference  were  formidable  obstacles  in  the  pathway  of  the 
young  Association. 

"Finding  it  difficult  to  rally  sufficient  financial  and  moral 


88  Cfte    £0ott)er    of    Clubs 


support  by  personal  argument  and  appeal,  we  resorted  to 
raising  funds  by  means  of  attractive  entertainments,  which 
proved  eminently  successful.  It  is  a  pleasure  to  recall  the  fact 
that  these  were  the  first  entertainments  of  a  fine  literary  value 
ever  given  in  Los  Angeles.  Courses  of  reading  were  given  by 
Locke  Richardson,  who  is  still  unexcelled  in  his  art;  by  Mrs. 
Humphrey  Smith,  of  San  Francisco,  the  accomplished  inter- 
preter of  Browning,  Emerson  and  other  poets;  George  W. 
Cable  and  Max  O'Rell  lectured.  The  Cradle  Songs  of  the 
Nations  was  one  of  the  delightful  events.  In  addition,  the 
Association  had  the  generous  help  of  the  few  professional 
and  amateur  musicians  of  that  time,  in  concerts,  and  other 
ways. 

"The  work  of  this  Association  was  limited,  for  some  years,  to 
maintaining  a  kindergarten  on  Sansevain  street,  in  a  mission 
chapel  kindly  loaned  for  that  purpose  by  the  first  Congrega- 
tional church,  whose  pastor,  Rev.  A.  J.  Wells,  gave  most  valued 
and  active  endorsement  to  the  work.  Later  a  second  kinder- 
garten was  opened  on  Chavez  street,  in  a  chapel  also  given 
rent  free,  by  the  same  generous  congregation. 

"While  rejoicing  over  the  acceptance  by  the  school  board  of 
our  strenuous  appeals  to  make  the  kindergarten  a  part  of  the 
public  school  system,  we  found  ourselves,  as  an  Association, 
confronted  with  a  serious  difficulty  in  the  fact  that,  under  the 
law,  children  under  the  age  of  four-and-a-half  years  are  not  al- 
lowed to  enter  the  public  kindergarten.  This  seems  a  most  illogic- 
al provision  to  be  made  by  those  who  sufficiently  appreciated 
the  value  of  the  new  method  to  incorporate  it  upon  the  school 
system.  It  leaves,  of  course,  large  numbers  of  little  ones 
afloat  upon  the  street  and  under  its  vile  influences,  or  upon  the 
hands  of  the  charitable,  to  be  brought  into  schools  supported 
by  voluntary  effort  on  the  part  of  those  who  have  already  been 
taxed  equally  with  others  for  the  support  of  public  education. 
And  it  leaves  our  Association  the  severe  labor  of  still  arous- 
ing the  public  conscience  to  a  sense  of  its  duties  to  these  waifs 
and  strays,  until  we  can  count  upon  the  enlightened  sentiment 
which  will  put  the  statute  into  better  form." 


Cbe    egotftet    of    Clu&s 


LETTER  TO  THE  FIRST  NATIONAL  CONGRESS  OF  MOTHERS,  AT 
WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  1897. 

"Dear  Friends:  I  am  out  of  active  service  and  only  on  the 
list  of  'honor'  in  club  and  kindergarten  work.  But  I  cannot 
forbear  my  word  of  heartiest  greeting  to  you  for  the  work 
which  you  have  now  in  hand.  It  is  beginning  at  the  true 
beginning— with  the  mother  and  with  the  problems  of  the 
home.  And  I  feel  sure  that  in  solving  these,  or  in  attempting  to 
do  so,  you  will  find  that  you  cover  all  social  problems.  Nothing 
that  concerns  the  welfare  of  the  race  can  be  of  indifference  to 
the  home.  And  when  women  have  learned,  by  wise  fellowship 
and  organized  methods,  to  meet  the  home  problems,  they  will 
be  nobly  prepared  to  meet  those  same  problems  in  the  larger 
home— the  state. 

"Much  thought  upon  these  questions  and  such  study  and 
observation  as  I  have  been  able  to  compass  in  my  brief  life  have 
led  me  to  the  firm  conviction  that  defiance  of  law— human 
and  divine— which  appalls  us  in  our  political  and  public  life, 
and  which  should  receive  its  right  title,  'anarchy,'  whether 
practised  by  men  eminent  in  party,  government,  finance,  etc., 
or  by  a  'revolutionist,'— that  this  anarchy  has  its  roots  in  the 
lack  of  home-training  in  the  common  duties  of  obedience, 
truth  and  unselfishness  in  regard  to  the  rights  of  others.  This 
lack  of  training  is  most  pronounced  in  the  case  of  our  boys, 
who  are  put  under  a  standard  of  manners  and  morals,  from  the 
cradle,  as  'only  boys,'  who  must  have  their  way  in  the  home, 
the  street  and  in  public  places.  Thus  they  begin  their  career 
as  genteel  rowdies  and  hoodlums;  later  they  are  the  youths 
who  must  sow  their  wild  oats— no  matter  at  what  cost  to  mates, 
family,  or  public.  It  is  small  wonder  that  such  'unchartered 
freedom,  if  it  do  not  tire  with  its  weight  and  chaos  of  chance 
desire,'  should  end  in  making  the  most  dangerous  class  of  our 
community— a  class  which  by  character  and  by  the  opportun- 
ities of  wealth  and  position,  is  naturally  inclined  to  oppress 
and  crush  all  in  their  power,  to  serve  party  or  personal  ends. 


90  cfte    fi@  o  t  ft  e  r    of    C  I  u  6  0 


And  it  is  this  class  who  become  'beasts  of  prey'  upon  the 
other  sex. 

"The  responsibility  for  this  condition,  and  the  remedy  for 
it,  must  come  largely  upon  the  home,  upon  the  father  and  the 
mother—  for  the  woman  alone  cannot  solve  this  great  problem." 

CHRISTIAN  SOCIALISM. 

Christianity,  let  us  remember,  is  an  attitude  of  mind,  a  habit  of 
feeling,  a  condition  of  soul;  it  is  not  an  Institution.  And  the  very  gist  of 
Christianity  may  quite  as  readily  be  embodied  in  Socialism  as  in  any 
formal  church;  and  Socialism,  whenever  it  appears  in  any  sincere  guise, 
always  has  an  aim  in  accord  with  Christianity—  it  aims  at  giving  more 
freedom  to  the  spiritual  side  of  man,  it  aims  at  putting  man's  life  under 
such  outward  conditions  that  he  can  practise  virtue  more  easily  and  find 
happiness  more  readily  in  this  life.  —  Bliss  Carmen. 

If  Christian  Socialism  means  fellowship  in  church  and  State,  the 
corporate  life,  the  virtue  of  walking  with  and  working  with  others,  count 
me  a  Christian  Socialist.—  Eugene  B.  Shippen. 

An  article  prepared  by  Madame  Severance  for  the  Los  Ange- 
les Herald,  in  answer  to  the  question: 

"WHAT  IS  THE  BEST  THING  THAT  COULD  HAPPEN  TO  MAN- 

KIND IN  THIS  OPENING  YEAE  OF  THE  TWENTIETH 

CENTURY?" 

No  thoughtful  or  well-read  person  now  looks  for  the  "glor- 
ious millennium"—  which  was  so  long  the  dream  of  the  latter- 
day  churches—  to  burst  upon  the  world  like  a  meteor,  at  given 
date,  and  to  banish  sin  and  evil  from  our  earth,  at  a  stroke. 
The  fearless  leaders  of  thought,  and  the  tireless  investigators 
of  the  last  century  have  changed  all  that,  scorned  though  they 
were  at  the  outset  as  blasphemers  and  disturbers  of  the  peace. 

Such  persons,  having  read  history  and  observed  the 
march  of  events,  even  in  their  own  day,  with  unbiased 
mind,  have  come  to  trust  in  the  undeniable  law  of  growth  to 
carry  us  forward.  They  can  only  earnestly,  but  confidently, 
hope,  that  as  the  race  develops  its  higher  faculties—  "puts  off 
the  tiger  and  puts  on  the  man"—  this  progress  will  be  less  and 


Ci>e   90ot&er   of   Clu&s          91 


less  hindered  by  destructive  and  wasteful  methods,  either  be- 
tween individuals  and  classes,  or  between  nations.  Love  will 
be  then  recognized  as  "the  unerring  light,"  the  irresistible 
force,  in  all  human  affairs.  The  brotherhood  of  man  will  come 
to  be  the  accepted  creed  of  all  civilized,  and  necessarily  of 
all  "Christian,"  nations.  Under  its  "golden  rule"  the  vexing 
questions  of  labor  and  capital,  of  forced  poverty  and  ill-got- 
ten riches,  of  classes  privileged  by  legislators  above  their  fel- 
lows, and  unpunished  for  their  flagrant  disobedience  and  defi- 
ance of  laws,—  these  problems  will  find  their  peaceful  solution 
at  the  ballot  box.  They  do  not  believe  that  this  solution 
will  come  as  a  miracle,  wrought  by  unseen  agencies,  but  it  will 
be  brought  about  by  strenuous  human  effort,  and  along  definite 
lines,  through  single  or  by  organized  action,  as  all  past  gains 
have  come. 

Besides  the  noble,  upright  character  which  does  its  large 
share  in  moulding  and  in  laying  broad  and  safe  the  foundations 
of  our  private  and  public  life,  the  present  century  will,  no 
doubt,  give  us  the  "direct  legislation"  and  the  "public  owner- 
ship of  public  utilities"  which  have  been  tried  to  the  gain  of 
peoples  elsewhere;  and  this  without  any  "change  in  human 
nature,"  except  as  it  has  hitherto  been  developed  to  clearer 
vision  and  to  higher  issues. 

Under  this  development  the  "paramount  issue"  of  woman's 
position,  as  a  human  being  and  a  citizen,  will  come  to  just 
recognition;  as  will  also  her  equality  with  the  son  whom  she 
has  borne  and  the  husband  whom  she  has  often  protected  from 
himself  by  her  wisdom  and  patient  love,  and  kept  from  want, 
by  the  labor  of  her  own  weaker  muscle.  She  will  be  pro- 
tected by  good  laws  from  the  beasts  of  prey  on  our  city 
streets,  and  rescued  from  her  present  dishonorable  political 
classification  (by  her  father,  husband  and  sons!)  with  the  in- 
competent and  criminal  non-voters—  an  audacious  program, 
but  coming  true,  year  by  year. 

Let  me  give  your  readers  the  superbly  brave  reply—  which 
I  see  in  none  of  our  dailies—  by  Mark  Twain,  in  response  to  a 


92  Cbe    Qiotfur    of    Clubs 

request  for  a  sentiment  at  an  entertainment  by  the  New 
York  Red  Cross: 

"I  bring  you  the  stately  matron  named  Christendom- 
returning  bedraggled,  besmirched,  and  dishonored,  from  pirate 
raids  in  Manchuria,  South  Africa  and  the  Philippines— with 
her  soul  full  of  meanness,  her  pocket  full  of  boodle,  and  her 
mouth  full  of  pious  hypocrisies. 

1  'Give  her  soap  and  towel,  but  hide  the  looking  glass!" 

Let  me  give  you,  also,  Elizabeth  Barrett  Browning's  ''Dream 
of  a  statesman  with  a  heart  too  large  for  England ;  of  courage 
to  speak  of  the  hurt  to  neighboring  peoples,  of  England's 
commercial  greed." 

My  own  dream,  of  the  far  future,  is  that  of  Kipling,— albeit 
he  is  a  strenuous  poet,— of  a  time 

When  none  shall  work  for  money, 
And  none  shall  work  for  fame; 
But  all  for  the  joy  of  the  doing. 

"Joy,"  because  none  need  then  labor  under  the  murderous 
spur  of  starvation  for  wife  and  child,  and  of  the  equally  mur- 
derous spur  of  competition. 

Brave  men  and  women,  speed  the  day ! 

(Letter  written  for  Woman's  Day,  at  a  Socialist  gathering, 

May  30,  1898.) 

Dear  Friends:— I  could  not  find  it  in  my  heart  to  decline  the 
request  of  your  committee  to  give  such  small  service  as  I  may 
be  able  today  to  the  good  cause  which  appeals  so  strongly  to 
me  and  for  which  our  League  stands,— the  cause  of  "peace  on 
earth,  good  will  to  men."  For  that  blessed  mission  it  surely 
stands ! 

Not  for  the  deliverance  of  man  from  the  wrath  to  come  and 
the  vengeance  of  an  offended  Creator,  as  the  outworn  dogmas 
proclaimed,  but  to  deliver  him  from  the  wrath  that  has  come, 
through  the  greed  and  injustice  of  those  to  whom  "might 


Cbe    S^otfter    of    Clubs  93 

makes  right "  and— rights,  a  greed  which  has  made  him  a 
pauper  and  a  bond  slave  in  this  bountiful  world  of  ours  where 
there  is  enough  and  to  spare  for  each  and  for  all. 

The  creed  of  our  League  is  co-operation  for  the  good  of  all, 
as  against  the  deadly  competition,  which  has  brought  upon  the 
industrial  world  its  present  miseries  and  misrule.  It  sees  and 
believes  that  ''through  the  ages  an  increasing  purpose  runs." 
It  believes  that  co-operation  is  as  much  a  fact  and  a  factor  in 
evolution  as  competition  has  been  in  the  past,  and  is  the  next 
step  in  industrial  development— the  only  sufficient  instrumen- 
tality for  averting  a  destructive  revolution.  It  stamps  as  blas- 
phemy to  God  and  man  and  as  untrue  to  the  facts  of  life  and  of 
history,  the  claim  that  competition  is  necessary  to  the  highest 
development  of  the  individual  or  of  society.  It  finds  in  the 
fierce  selfishness  of  competition,  the  development  and  growth 
of  all  the  baser  passions,— perhaps  we  should  say  that  it  is  re- 
sponsible for  their  creation  and  existence.  It  sees,  in  the  de- 
light of  the  student  in  his  library,  the  artist  in  his  studio,  the 
scientist  in  his  laboratory,  the  preacher  in  his  pulpit  and,  most 
of  all,  in  the  faithful  service  of  wife  and  mother  in  innumer- 
able homes,  the  nobler  incentives  and  the  truer  happiness. 
Nowhere  under  competition  as  a  motive  can  such  broad  and 
sure  results  be  shown. 

Ah,  yes,  my  friends,  let  us  be  proud  and  happy  to  enroll  our- 
selves in  the  goodly  company  of  prophets  and  poets  who  have 
foreseen  the  better  way  and  time,  "when  swords  shall  be 
beaten  into  ploughshares  and  spears  into  pruning  hooks;'* 
*  *  when  the  nations  shall  learn  war  no  more,  the  war  drums  beat 
no  longer  and  the  battle  flags  be  furled."  In  this  faith  and  in 
this  noble  fellowship  we  enroll  ourselves  and  call  upon  all  who 
care  for  the  world's  welfare  to  rally  to  the  wise  work. 

LETTER  TO  A  MULTI-MILLIONAIRE. 

Dear  Sir:—  I  have  learned  with  much  interest  and  pleasure* 
from  a  brief  sketch  I  have  just  seen  of  yourself,  that  you  are  a 
grandson,  on  your  mother's  side,  of  the  Reverend  John  Pier- 


Cbe    Qiotftet    of    Clubs 


pont,  whom  I  knew  well  in  Boston,  and  whom  I  exceedingly 
honored.  He  was  a  man  of  the  old,  heroic  type,  who  stood  for 
the  truth  as  he  saw  it,  and  lost  his  fine  parish  and  many  friends 
thereby. 

Nothing  in  my  life  has  been  more  pathetic  to  me  than  to  see 
this  dear  old  man,—  poet  and  scholar,  of  whom  it  may  be  truly 
written,  'He  loved  his  countrymen,'  toiling  up  and  down  the 
many  long  flights  of  stairs  in  the  Treasury  department  at 
Washington,  sincerely  happy,  and  grateful  to  Secretary  Chase 
for  giving  him  a  position  there,  when  all  else  had  failed. 

It  is,  therefore,  because  I  believe,  from  the  seventy  years  of 
my  mature  experience,  that  "blood  tells"  that  I  am  moved  to 
send  to  you,  dear  sir,  these  lines,  and  to  beg  something  of  you. 
I  do  not  desire  money  nor  personal  aid  of  any  sort;  I  only 
wish  to  recall  to  you  the  noble  example  of  your  ancestor 
and  to  implore  you  to  use  your  opportunities  to  earn  an  im- 
mortality of  blessedness,  by  a  magnificent  service  to  your  fellow 
men  of  all  lands  and  of  future  times. 

You,  dear  sir,  no  doubt  have  inherited  a  wonderful  gift  of  or- 
ganization and  of  financial  skill  from  your  father;  from  your 
mother  and  her  noble  father,  I  must  also  believe  that  you  have 
inherited  a  faith  in  the  right  as  a  conquering  power  in  all 
human  affairs,  and  in  love,  as  the  fulfilling  of  the  divine  law. 
Remembering  that  these  are  the  only  safe  and  enduring  bases 
of  true  success  and  that  we  can  carry  none  of  this  world's  gains, 
except  these,  into  the  other  life,  will  you  not,  dear  sir,  make  it 
your  aim  to  use  your  untold  wealth  in  the  bettering  of  the 
condition  of  manual  laborers  in  your  employ,  by  the  system  of 
profit-sharing,  so  eminently  satisfactory  wherever  tried?  This 
system,  properly  set  on  foot  in  your  vast  enterprises,  would 
revolutionize,  by  the  contagion  of  its  high  example,  the  indus- 
tries of  all  countries.  What  memorial,  what  niche  in  history, 
could  be  more  worthy  of  your  ambition  or  bring  you  more  enor- 
mous returns  of  happiness  ? 

One  of  our  New  England  poets  sings, 


Cfte    90otftet    of    C  lu  60  95 


What 's  mine  alone    is  mine  far  less 
Than  bounty  shared  by  every  soul. 

No  conqueror  of  boundless  provinces  in  the  past,  no  holder 
of  princely  revenues  today,  has  a  more  superb  and  appealing 
opportunity  than  this  to  you,  dear  sir,  to  make  glad  your  own 
life  with  the  blessings  of  millions,  now  oppressed  by  the  un- 
hallowed and  suicidal  greed  of  our  time,  and  to  win  the  love 
and  the  widespread  appreciation  of  all  right-minded  men  and 
women  the  world  over. 

May  it  not  be  for  this  end  that  you  have  'toiled  to  win  the 
" coign  of  vantage,"  when  a  word,  a  pressing  of  a  button  by 
your  hand— would  lift  a  tremendous  pressure  of  want  and  de- 
spair from  those  to  whom  life,  in  the  scant  comfort  and  the 
tortures  of  poverty  for  the  the  weak  wife  and  helpless  children, 
seems  a  frightful  mockery? 

Oh,  my  dear  sir,  remember  He  hath  made  of  one  blood  all  the 
nations  of  the  earth  and  that  "Inasmuch  as  ye  have  helped  one 
of  the  least  of  these,  ye  have  done  it  unto  Him." 


Letter  written  for  the  Banquet  to  Mayor  Jones,  of  Toledo,  Ohio, 
in  Los  Angeles,  1900. 

I  find  it  not  wise  to  be  with  you  tonight,  but  so  much  wish 
to  be  counted  one  of  you  on  this  memorable  passing  of  the  old 
century  and  coming  of  the  new,  that  I  must  comfort  myself 
with  a  few  words  of  fellowship  and  cheer. 

I  give  you  a  hearty  "all  hail,"  as  true,  brave  souls,  the 
seers  of  our  time.  It  is  a  rare  delight,  but  also  a  perilous  re- 
sponsibility, to  be  granted  a  sight  of  the  forces  of  evolution  at 
play  and  at  work  in  human  affairs;  to  catch  enchanting 
glimpses  of  the  nobler  dawn  of  the  race.  Those  thus  favored 
may  well  afford  to  bear  the  world's  contumely  and  scorn,  since 
the  coming  vision  will  not  tarry  because  of  that  unbelief,  but 
will  come  to  bless  alike  the  wise  and  the  unwise.  All  good 
causes  have  their  Bunker  Hills  and  their  Bull  Runs,  and  we, 
who  have  lived  to  see  many  victories  for  the  right,  can  never  be 


96  C  ft  e    «9  o  t  ft  e  r    of    Clubs 


disheartened.  I  share  fully  the  faith  of  the  Countess  Von 
Suttner,  whose  book,  "  Ground  Arms,"  it  is  said,  inspired  the 
Czar  to  his  late  manifesto. 

In  a  forcible  article  in  one  of  our  reviews,  she  meets  the  ob- 
jectors who  quote  against  her  arguments  and  hopes,  the  fact 
of  the  present  armed  warfare  of  the  very  nations  represented 
at  the  Hague  Conference,—  meets  this  argument  by  stating  that 
this  condition  is  a  harvest  of  seeds  sown  long  before  and  that 
the  horrors  of  the  present  barbarous  wars  are  surely  arousing, 
in  the  thoughtful  of  all  nations,  a  righteous  indignation  which 
will,  in  time,  tell  mightily  on  the  side  of  peace  and  true  broth- 
erhood. 

THE  BEAUTIES  OF  LOS  ANGELES. 

The  radiant  beauty  shed  abroad 
On  all  the  glorious  works  of  God 
Shows  freshly  to  my  sobered  eye 
Each  charm  it  wore  in  days  gone  by. 

—William  Cullen  Bryant. 

The  great  interest  taken  by  Madame  Severance  in  the  growth 
and  development  of  her  beloved  western  home  city  is  nowhere 
shown  more  practically  than  in  her  many  appeals  in  matters 
of  public  interest. 

An  article  written  in  1895  has  had  wide  influence  in  the  in- 
auguration of  local  improvements  which  have  since  that  time 
been  slowly  developing.  Full  of  local  pride  and  hope,  and— 
better  yet—  of  practical  plans,  she  wrote  as  follows: 

"So  beautiful  for  situation,  between  its  guardian  mountain 
ranges  and  the  smiling  sea,  so  wonderful  in  its  resources  and  its 
possibilities,  is  this  charming  valley  of  ours,  that  one  cannot 
reasonably  doubt  that  its  manifest  destiny  is  to  be  a  world  sani- 
tarium. One  who  abhors  sea  and  desert  travel  may,  indeed, 
say  that  it  is  a  Paradise  because  it  is  reached  only  through  a 
purgatory  of  sea  or  desert.  But  once  here,  every  prospect 
pleases  and  only  a  few  men  are  vile—  considering  the  many 
nations,  tongues  and  races  here  represented. 


of    Clu60  97 


"In  sober  truth,  we  older  residents  know  that  our  range  of 
climates,  latitudes,  and  altitudes,  of  fruits  and  products  from 
all  zones,  suffice  to  meet  royally  the  demands  both  of  health 
and  of  invalidism.  To  him  who  seeks  it  wisely  here,  no  demand 
of  necessity,  comfort,  or  luxury  is  impossible.  He  cannot  be  ac- 
credited with  wisdom,  however,  who  leaves  a  trying,  rigorous 
climate  elsewhere,  to  immure  himself  and  his  feeble  vitality 
in  a  crowded,  sunless,  perhaps  fireless,  hotel  or  boarding 
house.  Such  places  are  to  be  avoided  by  health  seekers  here, 
as  well  as  in  other  climates,  and  are  no  longer  prescribed  by 
physicians. 

"But  our  climate,  which  makes  possible  a  constant  out-of- 
door  life  for  fully  eleven  months  out  of  twelve,  is  surely  as 
nearly  ideal  as  this  planet  of  ours  affords,— one  worth  forsak- 
ing father  and  mother,  it  may  be,  to  secure.  And  most  cer- 
tainly it  is  worthy  of  our  united  effort  in  making  it  known 
abroad  and  in  utilizing  all  its  desirable  features. 

"Once  here,  how  can  the  invalid  best  enjoy  the  delights  and 
the  gains  of  our  climate;  how  can  the  tourist  of  artistic  sense 
find  the  most  pleasure ;  how  can  the  resident  who  has  adopted 
the  country,  best  compass  its  benefits  and  enjoyments? 

"One  way  in  which  this  may  be  accomplished  is  by  means  of 
drive-ways  which  shall  make  sight-seeing  an  irresistible  temp- 
tation; which,  over  a  roadbed  that  does  not  jar  upon  the  body 
and  set  the  sensibilities  on  edge,  shall  carry  us  past  lawns  and 
shrubberies  of  rare  beauty  and  tropical  luxuriance  and  past 
homes  of  stately  architecture  or  of  simple,  artistic  construction. 

"In  our  much-favored  city,  with  its  lovely  environments,  we 
have  abundant  raw  material  for  magnificent  results.  Our 
mountain  ranges,  with  their  varied  skylines  and  snowy  summits, 
front  us  with  splendor ;  under  their  daily  sunrise,  noontide,  and 
sunset  changes  of  light,  shadow  and  coloring,  they  afford  a 
superb  background;  the  living  green  of  orange  groves,  of  al- 
falfa fields,  of  lawns  and  gardens,  of  eucalyptus,  peppers  and 
other  evergreens,  even  of  the  symmetrical  Chinese  gardens  of 
our  outskirts,  make  beautiful  our  city  streets  and  our  valley 


98  c  ft  e    80  a  t  ft  e  r    of    C I  u  6  $ 

stretches.    And  our  suburbs  and  our  parks  offer  most  attract- 
ive termini  for  such  driveways. 

1  'If,  then,  our  city  is  to  take  its  proper  rank,  which  is  to  be 
a  leader,— if  it  will,— or  at  least  a  close  second  in  the  proces- 
sion of  beautiful  cities  of  the  country  and  of  the  world;  if  it 
would  take  its  proper  place,  it  should  at  once  lay  out  a  gener- 
ous system  of  boulevards,  broad,  perfectly  graded,  tree-lined,— 
which  boulevards  should  connect  the  various  parks,  the  present 
ones  and  those  to  come, — and  thus  give  miles  of  splendid  drive- 
ways. 

"The  cities  of  the  old  world  offer  many  object  lessons  in 
this  direction.  Their  magnificent  boulevards  are  an  indis- 
pensable part  of  their  attractions.  At  their  summer  and  winter 
resorts,  driveways  for  the  daily  outing  are  a  necessary  feature 
and  the  places  would  soon  be  deserted,  if  not  thus  provided. 
Keen  business  sense  and  a  natural  rivalry  urge  their  con- 
struction, however  expensive  the  step  may  be  at  the  outset. 
Our  own  eastern  cities  are  learning  the  value  of  such  roadways 
and  are  following  the  European  cities  in  the  planning  and  con- 
struction of  comprehensive  boulevard  systems. 

"Let  us  take  a  leaf  from  their  experience,  both  in  theory 
and  in  practice.  Let  us  not  prate  endlessly  of  industries,  man- 
ufactories and  commerce  as  the  only  indispensables.  Let  us, 
rather,  cultivate  the  industries  which  nature  here  offers  us  on 
every  hand— those  which  invite— and  follow  naturally  in  the 
wake  of  wealth,  culture  and  invalidism;  which  minister  to  the 
sense  of  beauty  and  comfort,  while  also  filling  the  heart  and 
the  purse.  A  health-seeking  and  beauty-loving  population 
needs  to  be  well  fed  and  housed  and  to  be  entertained,  mentally 
as  well  as  physically,  and  it  also  needs  to  be  transported  readily 
and  comfortably.  And  for  these  things  it  gives  in  return— as 
proved  by  the  experience  of  noted  resorts  elsewhere— an  income 
equal  to  that  which  other  towns  receive  from  the  noisy,  filthy, 
ordinary  and  often  unhealthful,  industries.  Towns  which  have 
not  the  attractions  and  the  possibilities  of  our  own,  may  accept 
and  even  welcome  such  industries.  Fortunately  no  such  ne- 


Cfte   e@otftet    of   Clu&$ 


cessity  is  laid  upon  us  in  this  favored  quarter  of  the  globe.  Our 
pathway  lies  along  the  lines  of  artistic,  enchanting  and  health- 
giving  activities.  Let  those  regions  which  are  barren  of  these 
rare  delights  and  opportunities  make  the  most  of  their  own  less 
attractive  advantages. 

"For  those  to  whom  nature  has  administered  with  such  lav- 
ish hands,  it  should  be  easy  to  complete  the  charms  at  hand. 
And  despite  the  blunders  of  our  early  city  surveys,  which  call 
a  sudden  halt  on  nearly  all  of  our  cross  town  streets,  by  their 
bewildering  jogs,— 'despite  this,  we  have  new  territory  to  deal 
with  in  a  better  way;  several  fine  thoroughfares  already  well 
laid  out  for  considerable  distances,  which,  properly  continued, 
and,  most  vital  of  all,  saved  from  the  dangers  and  unsight- 
liness  of  street  car  tracks,  would  give  us  drive-ways  of  unsur- 
passed beauty. 

"For  instance,  what  could  be  finer  as  a  seaward  and  sub- 
urban boulevard  than  the  two  broad  roadways  of  Figueroa  and 
Adams  streets,  now  so  well  begun,  which  according  to  the  old 
proverb,  is  'half  done/  These  are  already  partially  shaded  and 
in  sections,  well  built  up.  One  should  be  continued  on  its  pres- 
ent line,  south  to  the  sea,  near  Redondo,  passing  through  a  fer- 
tile and  soon  to  be  luxuriant  grain  and  fruit  region ;  the  north- 
ern extension  of  Figueroa  should  reach  Elysian  Park.  Adams 
street  should  reach  the  sea  at  Santa  Monica ;  at  the  pretty  sta- 
tion of  The  Palms,  it  would  meet  its  western  extension,  already 
graded  and  partially  shaded.  This  driveway  would  command 
from  its  many  level  heights,  a  panorama  of  sea,  mountain,  foot- 
hills and  valleys  verdant  with  alfalfa  and  barley,  or  golden  with 
grain  stubble.  The  same  street  should  be  carried  eastward 
across  the  river  into  the  country  beyond,  which  would  also 
give  glorious  outlooks  of  mountain  and  valley. 

' '  These  should  be  made  a  part,  moreover,  of  our  park  system, 
by  bringing  Alvarado  street,  which  is  now  broad  and  fine  where 
graded,  past  Echo  Park  and  Westlake  to  Adams  and  by  con- 
tinuing it  on  the  north  to  Elysian  Park.  Adams  street  should 
also  be  connected  on  the  east  with  a  similar  boulevard  which 
should  cross  Eastlake  Park  and  swing  around  to  Elysian.  That 


loo         C&e    quotfter    of   Clufis 


these  connections  would  not  be  rectangular  would  only  add  to 
their  beauty  and  fascination. 

"It  is  a  pity  that  we  have  already  lost  beyond  redemption 
the  most  charming  of  our  inland  suburban  drives,— that  through 
the  arroyo  to  Pasadena.  Five  lines  of  cars  now  destroy  its 
beauty  and  its  safety.  But  that  loss  should  make  us  pause 
before  all  other  possibilities  are  sacrificed  to  the  greed  of  com- 
petition. Even  our  best  driveways,  Adams  and  Figueroa  are  al- 
ready under  the  doom  of  the  electric  car— think  of  it !  Have 
invalids,  tourists,  the  aged  and  the  infant,  the  artist  and  the 
beauty-lover,— have  these  no  rights  which  blind  politicians  and 
self-seeking  money-makers  are  bound  to  respect?  Let  at  least 
the  patriotic  and  high-minded  assert  themselves,  claim  their 
rights  as  tax-payers  and  property  owners,  and  join  in  a  friendly 
crusade  to  wrest  this  heavenly  birthright  from  the  hands  of 
those  who  would  barter  it  for  a  mere  'mess  of  pottage.' 

"Taking  the  matter  on  its  practical  business  side,  however, 
the  increased  taxes  for  these  improvements  would  be  but  a 
fraction  of  the  enhanced  value  of  the  land  in  sight  and  reach 
of  them  and  of  the  increase  in  all  city  and  suburban  property." 

Oh,  city  of  my  later  life  and  longing, 
Nestled  in  vale  fair  as  Italia 's  own, — 
With  sons  of  dauntless  will  and  loyal-hearted, 
And   daughters  dowered  for  all  heroic  striving; 
May  thy  high  fortune  be  to  lead  our  land 
In  the  world  struggle  toward  the  lofty  rule 
Of  calm-eyed  Justice  and  of  sweet-browed  Peace,— 
The  royal  consorts  of  the  coming  time. 

— C.  JA.  S. 

THE  NEW  ITALY. 

The  angel  of  summer  aloft,  I  see, 

And  the  soul  of  roses  about  to  be! 

And  the  heart  in  me  sings— the  heart  knows  why— 

'Tis  winter  on  earth,  but  June  in  the  sky! 

—Edith  M.  Thomas. 

As  evidence  of  Madame  Severance's  enthusiastic  appreciation 
of  Southern  California,  the  use  of  the  following  descriptive 
article  has  been  permitted: 

"One  is  disposed  to  put  'climate'  in  the  plural  when  writ- 


C f) e    e©  o  t  ij  e  t    of    Clubs          101 


ing  of  so  large  a  state  as  California  and  one  so  wonderfully  en- 
dowed with  conditions  which  make  health,  comfort  and  beauty 
in  all  seasons.  Its  great  length  of  coast  line  and  its  mountain 
ranges  irregularly  paralleling  that,  offer  a  wealth  of  resource 
in  varying  temperature,  altitudes,  shelter  from  the  sea  breezes 
or  exposure  to  them,  perhaps  unequalled  by  any  state  in  the 
union,  or  indeed,  by  any  country  in  the  world.  This  topic  may 
seem  worn  threadbare  at  first  thought;  but  it  is  necessary  to 
recapitulate  the  features  which  are  still  but  vaguely  under- 
stood. Its  mountain  ranges  offer  sunny  or  shaded  canyons  and 
nooks,  for  the  invalid,  the  bee  culturist  and  the  indolent  pleas- 
ure seeker;  higher  up,  bracing  air  and  summer  snow  and 
ice  offer  new  life  and  recreation,  while  the  snowy  heights,  the 
sheltered  canyons  give  rise  to  the  streams  which  furnish  the 
water  supply.  The  inland  valleys,  shut  in  by  knobby  moun- 
tains or  foothills,  give  an  almost  tropic  temperature,  even  dur- 
ing the  winter  months,  grateful  to  the  enfeebled  or  the  tourist. 
Many  a  wrecked  man  of  affairs,  many  a  chronic  patient— the 
despair  of  medical  faculties— has  found  life  well  worth  living 
as  a  result  of  the  natural  balms  for  brain  and  body  found  in 
the  health-giving  quiet  and  atmosphere  of  these  valleys. 

"The  advantages  of  our  California  winters  have  been  ac- 
cepted as  facts  by  most  intelligent  persons;  but  the  popular 
conception  leaves  a  heavy  balance  against  California  for  the 
summer  months,  and  is  more  at  fault  in  this,  perhaps,  than  in 
regard  to  any  other  fact  of  our  climatic  conditions.  The 
truth  is  that  our  summer  climate  surpasses  that  of  the  eastern 
summer  as  really  as  does  our  winter  weather  that  of  the  fierce 
eastern  winter. 

"We  of  the  'new  Italy'  might  well  say,  as  did  the  loyal  citi- 
zens of  the  old-time  Italy,  'Why  go  away  when  all  men  come 
to  us?'  But  while  this  may  be  true  of  the  winter  travel  to 
our  favored  state,  why  should  it  not  also  be  true  of  our  sum- 
mer traffic  ?  Why  should  not  tourists  come  to  us  for  our  sum- 
mer climate  ?  It  can  only  be  because  they  are  still  ignorant  of 
the  unsurpassed  attractions  as  a  summer  resort  of  our  'beau- 
tiful corner  of  the  earth : '  because  they  do  not  know  that  while 


102          Cftc    €0otftcr    of    Clubs 

the  rains  do  not  often  come  as  a  flood  in  winter  time,  their  ab- 
sence in  the  summer  months  does  not  leave  us  comfortless  and 
shorn  of  beauty;  that  our  valleys  are  still  green,  in  the  dry 
season,  with  orange  groves  and  other  orchards,  with  alfalfa 
fields  and  vegetable  gardens,  or  rich  with  a  golden  brown  that 
pleases  the  eye  of  artist  and  poet ;  that  our  mountain  sides  and 
summits,  where  not  covered  with  noble  pines  and  firs,  or  white 
with  silvery  snow-caps,  show  beauty  still  in  the  varied  coloring 
which  runs  through  all  the  gamut  of  greys,  browns,  yellows 
and  purples. 

"And  all  of  this  is  but  a  regal  setting  for  days  that  lap  one 
in  a  dream  of  Elysium,— so  crystal  clear  and  cloudless,  and  yet 
so  delicious  with  mountain  and  ocean  ozone,— so  full  of  the 
music  of  bird  and  the  perfume  of  perpetual  bloom,  crowned 
with  the  temperature  of  the  'perfect  June  day.'  This  temper- 
ature has  one  distinct  feature ;  while  the  heat  may  seem  severe 
under  the  open  sky,  the  shelter  of  roof,  tree,  or  umbrella,  makes 
it  enjoyable,  and  its  best  feature— not  to  be  found  elsewhere, — 
is  the  entire  relief  from  the  day's  he^t  afteri  sunset.  The 
nights  the  long  year  through  are  blissfully  cool,  and  the  hor- 
rors of  the  gasping,  suffocating  nights  of  the  eastern  sum- 
mer, when  one  cries  out  in  desperation,  '  Would  God  it  were 
morning!'  are  absolutely  unknown. 

"These  natural  advantages  have  been  largely  developed  and 
utilized  by  the  marvelous  spirit  of  enterprise  for  which  our 
western  people  are  known.  Our  hotels  outrank  most  eastern 
hostelries.  Echo  Mountain  House  and  Alpine  Tavern,  at  Mount 
Lowe,  challenge  comparison  with  any  known  resorts  upon 
mountain  heights,  as  does  the  marvelous  scheme  of  engineering 
by  which  these  are  reached.  Golden  Gate  Park,  in  San  Fran- 
cisco, created  from  nothing  one  might  say,  looking  upon  its  con- 
tiguous sand  dunes;  the  charming  suburbs  of  that  city,  rival- 
ling those  of  Boston;  San  Rafael  and  its  idyllic  Ross  Valley; 
Piedmont  Heights,  aristocratic  Menlo  Park,  a  tract  of  noble 
live  oaks,  pre-empted  by  the  millionaires  of  the  city  for  their 
stately  summer  homes;  the  seventeen  miles  of  driveway  along 
the  tempting  beach  at  Monterey,  overhung  by  picturesque, 


C  ft  e    £@  o  t  ft  c  r    of    €  I  u  b  0          103 


wind-swept  cypresses;  Santa  Cruz,  with  its  unique  mountain 
back-ground;  Santa  Monica,  Ocean  Park,  Redondo,  Long 
Beach,  Coronado,  each  with  special  virtues  and  attractions; 
Riverside,  with  its  unrivalled  orange  groves;  Redlands  and  its 
world-famous  Smiley  Heights,  a  marvel  of  landscape  garden- 
ing ;  Pasadena,  the  royal  crown  of  the  historic  San  Gabriel  val- 
ley ;  and  beautiful  Santa  Barbara,  fairest  pearl  of  this  priceless 
necklace,  in  its  unique  setting  of  mountain  and  sea,— all  of 
these  make  an  array  of  temptations  for  the  invalid,  the  artist, 
the  bon-vivant  tourist  and  sight-seeker,  which  once  enjoyed  are 
not  easily  resisted  thereafter. 

"It  is  not  intentional  to  slight  our  'Lady  of  the  Angels;'  that 
it  is  last  on  the  list.  Her  natural  advantages  equal  any  others 
in  varied  hill  sites  for  noble  homes  throughout  city  and  suburbs, 
in  commanding  mountain  views  from  all  points,  of  easy  access 
to  summer  and  winter  resorts.  Its  crowning  attraction  to  many 
intending  tourists  and  residents  is  its  life  and  enterprise  as  a 
commercial  and  railroad  center,— destined  perhaps  to  be  the 
capital  city  of  a  new  state  of  Southern  California. 

''Think  of  the  charm  of  a  land  where  one's  windows  and 
doors  may  stand  open  day  and  night;  where  one  may  sit  upon 
the  broad  veranda,  taking  in  health,  beauty,  perfume  and  music 
the  livelong  day ! 

"We  have  still  to  add  that  nowhere  else,  in  a  commonwealth 
so  young  and  so  distant  from  the  old  centers  of  literature  and 
culture,  can  more  be  offered  to  the  making  of  a  full,  rich  life 
on  either  the  lines  of  art,  of  study,  or  of  worthy  leisure ;  for  we 
have  here  the  creditable  beginnings  of  all  these.  We  can  al- 
ready boast  two  Universities  which  compare  favorably  with 
the  older  institutions  of  the  east,  Berkeley,  with  its  fine  record 
and  '  groves  of  Academe, '  and  Stanford  with  its  royal  demesne 
and  its  ideal  faculty  and  atmosphere ;  we  have  Mount  Hamilton 
and  its  royal  road  to  the  celestial  outlook;  the  lesser  colleges 
of  Southern  California— on  the  way  to  becoming  universities, 
no  doubt ;  the  numberless  and  flourishing  musical  societies,  art 
galleries  and  studios  of  San  Francisco  and  the  counterpart  of 
these  'in  small,'  in  our  own  quarter,  the  public  schools  of  the 


104          €i)e    Dottier    of    Clubs 


state,  whose  teachers  are,  in  the  main,  a  proverb  for  efficiency, 
as  are  also  those  of  most  of  our  private  schools. 

"In  Los  Angeles  we  have  a  public  library— an  institution 
most  creditable;  numerous  parks,  somewhat  in  the  embryo,  as 
yet;  a  boulevard  system  planned  which  shall  connect  the  city 
with  the  seashore  at  various  points,  and  which  will  be  one  of 
our  great  attractions. 

* '  Utilizing  our  bountiful  resources,  we  might  imitate  the  Ital- 
ians of  the  time  of  the  Medici,  by  building  so  generously  as  to 
find  a  refuge  from  the  heat  of  summer  days  in  the  airy  court 
and  the  north  and  west  rooms  of  the  lower  story,  the  arcaded 
porticoes  and  sheltered  gardens,  all  beautiful  with  bronzes 
and  marbles ;  while  we  spent  winter  days  in  glass-screened  bal- 
conies and  gardens,  and  in  sunned  upper  rooms  and  roof  gar- 
dens. Palaces  these  which  still  stand  on  the  fair  Tuscan  hills, 
and  which  our  English  and  American  brethren  are  now  oc- 
cupying, and  often,  alas,  modernizing  out  of  their  classic  lines 
of  beauty.  These  are  homes  rich  with  the  memories  of  Petrarch, 
Milton,  Leigh  Hunt,  Landor,  the  Brownings,  and  others,— and 
priceless  because  of  these  associations. 

"Shall  not  we,  too,  build  and  adorn  our  homes  with  sweet, 
simple  and  high  art,  creating  homes  which  will  bring  blessings 
not  only  to  their  owners  and  neighbors,  but  to  posterity  in 
the  ages  to  come,— homes  fragrant  with  the  indestructible 
aroma  of  high  living  and  noble  art,— of  art  that  is  true  to  its 
age  and  therefore  helpful  and  inspiring,— the  harmonious  and 
graceful  handmaid  of  nature  at  her  best,  as  here  she  surely  is?'* 


BEMAEKS  MADE  BY  MADAME  SEVEEANCE  AT  A  FUNEEAL,  IN 

1860. 

"When  one  is  asked  to  say  a  few  words  in  the  presence  of 
this  mystery  we  call  death,  it  is  as  a  tribute  to  the  memory 
of  the  one  gone  and  an  attempt  to  offer  comfort  and  hope  to 
the  sad  survivors. 

"I  am  little  qualified  to  speak  of  our  friend  as  being  espec- 
ially familiar  with  her  own  faith  about  a  future  life.     But  I 


C ft e   e© o tftet   of   Clufrg         105 


have  known  enough  of  her  life  here,  which  must  be  the  best 
key  to  a  preparation  for  any  future,  to  speak  most  heartily 
of  its  simplicity,  its  genuineness,  its  generosity,  even  to  the  sac- 
rifice of  ease  and  self  for  another's  comfort,— and  this  spon- 
taneously, gladly. 

"To  come  into  her  home  was  to  feel  the  presence  and  the 
spell  of  all  the  sweet  home  virtues ;  to  face  the  substance  of  all 
life's  best  things;  to  realize  that  life  is  a  thousand  times  well 
worth  living  when  it  offers  such  peace  and  sweetness  and  char- 
acter, as  the  result.  This,  our  tribute  to  a  life  simply  and 
purely  lived,  is  the  more  emphatic,  has  a  broader  sanction,  when 
we  know  that  it  was  lived  from  its  own  inner  sense  of  duty  and 
delight,  and  not  from  any  formula  of  duty,  or  of  personal  safety 
for  the  future,  endorsed  by  mere  custom  or  tradition.  It  was 
the  happy  overflow  of  a  wholesome,  noble  human  nature,  which 
some  of  us  dare  to  call  divine,— in  its  capacity  and  destiny;  be- 
cause we  find  ourselves  the  creatures  of  a  supreme  power  which 
makes  for  righteousness  in  each  of  us,  if  we  only  will. 

"Not  knowing  her  faith,  beyond  the  noble  one  shown  in  her 
life  of  helpfulness  and  sweetness,  her  joy  in  all  the  loveliness 
that  lives  in  nature,  the  flower,  the  shell,  the  bird,  the  sea  and 
the  sky,— I  can  best  attempt  to  comfort  the  sorrowing  in  the 
words  which  most  comfort  me  in  such  trials.  Our  dear  David 
Wasson  sings  in  a  magnificent  strain  of  the  glories  of  our 
present  inheritance  in  his  'All  Hail,'  which  I  feel  sure  our 
friend  felt  ringing  in  her  own  soul ;  and  our  beloved  Whittier 
sees  in  all  this  superb  endowment,  an  undeniable  token  and 
promise  of  what  is  yet  to  come,  as  life  goes  on  through  the  ages ; 
Charles  G.  Ames,  the  Brownings  and  Emerson  all  sing  of  the 
same  high  hope  and  trust. ' ' 

OTHER  TOPICS. 

Besides  the  topics  and  papers  which  have  been  presented, 
Madame  Severance  has  written  many  papers  which  are  too 
lengthy  for  insertion  here.  One  of  these— on  the  Chinese  ques- 
tion,—was  written  at  the  request  of  the  Association  for  the  Ad- 


106          Cfte    a&otfier    of    Clu60 


vancement  of  Woman,  and  was  read  at  its  Congress  held  at 
Portland,  Maine,  in  the  early  eighties.  This  paper  was  prepared 
after  a  careful  study  of  the  reports  of  congressional  committees, 
on  the  hiring  of  Chinese  labor  by  the  Central  Pacific  Railroad 
Company,  and  from  material  furnished  by  George  Sewall,  then 
a  United  States  official  in  China.  Another  paper  was  on  "The 
Beginnings  of  Anarchy  in  the  Home":  others  on  "Venti- 
lation," with  strong  scientific  arguments  in  its  behalf;  "The 
Evitable  and  the  Inevitable,"  showing  how  much  that  is  con- 
sidered inevitable  in  the  wrongs  and  evils  of  the  past  has  yield- 
ed to  modern  science  and  effort;  "Silk  Culture  in  California" 
was  written  with  the  aid  of  the  enthusiasm  and  experience 
of  Mrs.  Jeanne  C.  Carr,  and  by  request,  read  at  a  session  of  the 
Woman's  Parliament  of  Southern  California.  Several  papers 
have  been  prepared  to  be  read  before  the  Unitarian  Confer- 
ences, in  San  Francisco,  Los  Angeles  and  San  Diego.  Many 
other  articles  on  hygiene,  kindergartens,  women  on  the  school 
boards  and  in  public  institutions,  suffrage,  and  kindred  topics, 
have  been  written  for  the  daily  press,  for  magazines  and  for 
clubs. 

Madame  Severance  has  also  indulged  in  verse  on  occasions  of 
public  interest.  At  Cleveland,  in  the  fifties,  she  wrote  an  ap- 
preciative welcome  to  the  eloquent  patriot,  Louis  Kossuth; 
she  also  wrote  a  farewell  verse  upon  leaving  Cleveland  for 
Boston  in  1855.  While  spending  the  winter  in  Tennessee  she 
was  requested  to  write  an  ode  for  the  memorial  services  at  Chat- 
tanooga Cemetery.  She  has  often  enlivened,  or  marked,  the 
family  festivities,  birthdays,  etc.,  by  humorous  or  tender 
rhymes. 

As  a  specimen  of  her  responses  this  instance  may  be  quoted : 
On  being  asked  by  the  president  of  a  Massachusetts  club, 
"What  woman  would  you  like  to  be?"  she  answered: 

"I'd  like  to  be  the  perfect  woman,  nobly  planned, 
To  warn,  to  comfort  and  command,— 

compounded  of  the  characteristic  gifts  and  virtues,  the 
sweetness  and  the  strength  which  have  made  for  righteousness 


C f) e    Corbet    of    Clubs          107 

and  human  weal,  of  our  beloved  Lucretia  Mott,  Julia  Ward 
Howe,  Lucy  Stone  and  Mary  A.  Livermore.  Could  audacious 
wishing  go  further?" 

Madame  Severance  has  been  made  honorary  president  and 
vice-president  of  many  State  Federations  and  Suffrage  Leagues, 
and  has  been  honored  by  many  remembrances  and  verses  from 
her  friends  upon  her  birthday  and  other  anniversaries.  She 
often  says  that  her  cup  runs  over  with  the  blessings  of  love  and 
gratitude  from  dear  women  of  all  circles  and  faiths. 


VII. 

PERSONAL  REMINISCENCES. 

JOHN  G.  WHITTIEE. 

EEAD   BY  MADAME   SEVEBANCE   AT   WHITTIEE,   CALIFOENIA, 
ON  THE  EIGHTY-THIED  BIETHDAY  OF  JOHN 
GEEENLEAF  WHITTIEE. 

I  think  we  see  our  valley 's  brightness  brighter 
For  faces  that  once  brightened  by  our  side; 

The  peace  of  the  eternal  mountains  deepens 
At  thought  of  peace  on  faces  that  have  died. 

—William  C.  Gannett. 

It  is  often  a  matter  of  some  moment  how  the  richest  ex- 
periences of  our  lives  come  to  us.  In  Cleveland,  Ohio,  in  the 
early  forties,  I,  a  young  wife  and  mother,  was  feeling  keenly 
the  responsibilities  of  my  position  and  seizing  eagerly  all  pos- 
sible helps.  Cultivated  men  and  women,  mainly  from  the  New 
England  states,  often  visited  us  on  their  various  educational 
and  literary  pilgrimages. 

Among  these  were  the  dear,  old  father  of  Louisa  Alcott; 
Theodore  Parker,  proscribed  then  as  a  heretic,  even  by  his 
own  denomination;  the  eloquent  Wendell  Phillips  and  the 
heroic  William  Lloyd  Garrison;  Wentworth  Higginson,  and 
many  more;  there  were  also  excellent  women,  not  a  few,— 
sweet-natured,  womanly,  yet  strong  by  word  and  by  pen.  Such 
were  Abby  Kelley  Foster,  in  her  early  days  of  martyrdom ;  Lucy 
Stone,  compelling  in  the  music  of  her  voice  and  her  eloquence, 
and  others. 

The  presence  of  these  quickened  my  desire  for  the  older  civ- 
ilization of  the  East,  and,  when  circumstances  favored,  our 
family  group  was  transplanted  to  the  stimulating  atmosphere 
and  companionship  of  beloved  Boston.  Being  not  to  the  manor 
born,  as  you  see,  you  will  relieve  me  of  the  charge  of  egotism 

108 


Cfte    figot&er    of    Clu60         109 


and  provincial  narrowness  in  my  warm  tribute  to  what  has  been 
the  deepest,  the  most  valuable  influences  of  my  later  life.  One 
of  the  rarest  privileges  which  good  fortune  brought  to  me 
in  this  new  environment  was  the  meeting  with  the  saintly  and 
shy  Whittier.  This  was  won  through  the  introduction  of  a 
friend  of  his— George  Bradburn— to  whom  I  owe  a  passing  men- 
tion. Mr.  Bradburn  had  come  to  Cleveland  as  the  editor  of  one 
of  its  journals.  He  was  a  man  of  the  sweetest  nature,  a  bon 
comrade,  but  in  his  public  capacity,  as  terrible  to  shams,  to 
meanness,  to  injustice,  as  an  army  with  banners.  He  was  a  man 
of  might  with  tongue  and  pen  and  of  a  courage  equal  to  his 
convictions.  All  these  qualities,  and  the  superb  record  which 
he  had  made  for  himself,  in  the  early  anti-slavery  movement 
and  in  the  Massachusetts  legislature  where,  as  the  terror  of  evil 
doers,  he  was  known  as  'that  Bradburn  from  Nantucket,'  or 
simply  as  'Nantucket  Bradburn;'  and  where,  with  fearless 
courage  and  vigorous  English,  he  served  every  true  cause  un- 
flinchingly ;  his  record  in  the  Unitarian  pulpit,  on  school  boards 
and  in  many  other  helpful  positions,— all  this  had  won  for  him 
the  intimate  regard  and  friendship  of  the  noble  poet  of  human- 
ity. And  when  our  little  clan  set  off  for  the  land  of  prom- 
ise, we  were  preceded  by  a  warm  letter  from  Mr.  Bradburn  to 
the  poet. 

I  never  can  forget  the  place  and  the  manner  of  my  first 
meeting  with  Whittier,— the  moment  when  I  first  looked  into 
those  wonderful  eyes  and  felt  myself  face  to  face  with  my  ideal 
poet,— one  who  had  not  been  willing  merely  to  weave  idle 
rhymes,  but  had  used  his  exquisite  gift  in  the  highest  service  of 
his  fellow  men  and  thus  of  his  God. 

It  was  in  the  historic  Music  Hall  of  Boston,  where  from  week 
to  week,  we  drank  in  the  new  and  broader  gospel  of  Theodore 
Parker's  Sunday  sermons.  This  was  not  a  Sunday  service,  but 
some  of  the  larger  afternoon  or  evening  meetings,  in  the  inter- 
ests of  Anti-slavery,  the  Cause  in  Kansas,  the  Missouri  Com- 
promise, or  something  of  the  sort,  then  so  common.  I  remember 
only  the  enthusiasm  of  the  meeting  and  the  personnel  of  the 
assembly.  On  the  va^^SUS^^ere  gathered  the  staunch 

'  V*  OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 

OF 


no          Cfte    Sgotfter    of    Clu60 

souls  who  dared  to  face  the  criticism  of  an  adverse  public,— 
Garrison,  Phillips,  Parker,  Alcott,  May,  Higginson,  Emerson 
(I  think,)  and  other  brave  ministers  and  laymen  and  women. 
As  we  lingered  after  the  usual  custom  in  these  exciting  times 
for  earnest  chat,  some  one  called  my  name  and  the  good  Whit- 
tier— in  spite  of  shyness  which  made  it  a  rare  thing  for  him  to 
appear  in  a  public  place,— leaned  over  to  me,  gave  me  a  warm 
hand  clasp  and  a  warmer  greeting  from  those  cordial  yet 
searching  poet-eyes,  and  said  most  graciously,  "Ah,  I  know 
thee  already,  from  our  dear  friend  Bradburn." 

Other  intimates  of  his  I  came  to  know  and  so  had  glimpses 
of  him  on  his  rare  visits  to  Boston  and  vicinity.  Sometimes  it 
was  at  the  famous  Radical  Club  in  the  historic  house  on  Chest- 
nut street,— made  doubly  famous  by  those  meetings  at  which 
Emerson,  Alcott,  Hedge,  Weiss,  Wasson,  Cranch,  Higginson, 
Frothingham,  Sumner,  Schurz,  William  H.  Charming,  Holmes, 
Longfellow,  Lucretia  Mott,  Julia  Ward  Howe,  Mrs.  Cheney,  and 
many  others  were  guests  or  speakers.  Here,  as  at  our  New  Eng- 
land Woman's  Club,  manuscripts  which  later  startled  or  de- 
lighted the  larger  public  were  sometimes  read  and  delightfully 
discussed.  The  hostess,  Mrs.  Sargent,  sometimes  captured  the 
shy  poet  and  secured  him  from  dreaded  notice  in  the  friendly 
shelter  of  an  ante-room,  where  he  could  hear  what  went  on 
and  we  could  feel  his  presence  and  sometimes,  when  the  crowd 
had  scattered,  have  the  pleasure  of  a  few  quiet  words  with  him. 
Even  a  smile  from  him  was,  as  Charles  Dudley  Warner  says  of 
the  embrace  of  an  eminent  person,  "an  heirloom  in  one's  fam- 
ily." Faith  in  man  and  belief  in  all  things  good  ran  in  the 
blood  perforce,  while  under  the  spell  of  that  smile— of  those 
pure,  celestial  eyes! 

My  last  meeting  with  the  dear  poet,  after  driving  with  a 
neighbor  of  his  to  his  charming,  home-like  residence,  Oak  Knoll, 
in  Danvers,  only  to  find  him  away— was  in  the  fall  of  1880.  He 
was  spending  the  winter,  as  he  occasionally  did  at  that  time, 
at  a  quiet  family  hotel  on  Beacon  Hill,  Boston.  I  wrote  to  ask 
him  if  I  might  see  him  once  more  and  bring  with  me  a  friend 
who  had,  I  knew,  no  idle  curiosity  to  see  him,  but  instead,  the 


Cfte    Qpotftet    of    Clu60          in 

grateful  sense  of  past  help,  in  her  widowhood  and  sorrow,  from 
the  sustaining  faith  of  his  poems.  I  received  a  hearty  note  in 
response  which  is  precious  because  it  may  be  my  last  from  him. 

At  first  the  poet  kept  somewhat  in  the  shadow  of  his  timid- 
ity, but  my  friend,  in  her  sincerity,  soon  put  him  at  ease.  The 
call  was  made  a  merry  one  by  a  past  blunder  of  mine,  over 
which  I  was  making  some  earnest  but  playful  apologies.  The 
facts  were  that  the  year  before  a  company  of  tourists  had  driv- 
en through  our  home  place  in  Los  Angeles,  as  is  the  custom  of 
many  visitors  in  sight-seeing,  and  when  I  responded  from  the 
piazza  to  their  interest  in  the  beauty  of  our  common  semi-tropic 
growths,  one  of  the  party  remarked  of  the  ladies  in  the  back 
seat,  "These  are  Mr.  Whittier's  cousins  who  live  with  him  in 
Danvers."  The  fact  that  Danvers  was  spoken  of  when  Ames- 
bury  had  been  his  home  ever  since  our  knowledge  of  him: 
that  they  had  brought  no  line  of  introduction  to  show  their 
relationship,  and  the  more  damaging  fact  that  imposters,  under 
the  best  of  names,  had  just  been  making  havoc  with  our  faith 
in  strangers ;  all  of  these  had  raised  my  suspicions  and  caused 
me  to  be  less  cordial  in  my  reply,  no  doubt,  and  the  party  had 
driven  on. 

Later  I  learned  of  my  absurd  mistake  and  now  hastened  to 
make  such  amend  as  I  might  by  full  confession.  The  merry- 
hearted  poet  enjoyed  immensely  the  absurdity  of  such  sus- 
picions regarding  his  honest,  sturdy,  New  England  cousins,  who 
had  been  his  home  gaiardians  of  late  years,  and  would  have  me 
then  and  there  get  a  near  view  of  them.  My  mortification 
would  have  been  doubled  by  this  had  not  the  poet  and  his 
cousins  made  so  good  a  joke  of  it.  Moreover,  the  mood  of  this 
incident  may  have  impelled  him  to  amusing  reminiscences  of 
his  early  days,  one  of  which  was  of  the  time  when  he,  a  genuine 
" barefoot  boy,"  was  used  to  bring  or  carry  of  early  mornings, 
across  the  broad  meadows  to  and  from  the  nearest  neighbors, 
the  firebrand  which  was  the  usual  method  for  lighting  fires,  be- 
fore the  days  of  matches. 

The  joyous  spirit  of  the  hour  recalls  his  own  lines  to  the  be- 
loved sister: 


112         Cfte    Q^otfter    of    Clu60 


Away  with  weary  care  and  themes, 
Swing  wide  the  golden  gate  of  dreams; 

Thou  wilt  not  chide  my  turning, 
To  con,  at  times,  an  idle  rhyme, 
To  pluck  a  flower  from  childhood's  clime, 
Or  listen  at  life's  noonday  chime, 

For  the  sweet  bells  of  morning. 

It  is  a  charming  memory,  to  have  seen  the  poet,  usually  so 
serious  under  the  weight  of  the  world's  woe  and  wrongs,  in  this 
delightful,  mirthful  mood. 

Later,  in  days  and  nights  of  agony  over  the  unconquerable 
illness  of  the  darling  " Benjamin"  of  our  flock,  our  outlook 
from  a  sunny  height  near  Boston  commanded  the  uplift  of  the 
Danvers  hills  and  of  the  neighboring  plains  of  Concord.  And 
certain  I  am  that  the  peace  which  sometimes  stole  into  my  soul 
like  a  benediction  was  the  conscious  nearness  to  those  noble 
homes  and  lives.  I  more  than  ever  realized  what  those  seers 
beyond  the  flesh— Emerson  and  Whittier— can  do  for  solace  and 
for  uplifting  in  all  great  crises  of  life  and  of  sorrow.  Like  the 
friend  whom  I  had  presented  to  Whittier,  I  felt  that  one  must 
be  braver,  stronger,  truer  for  the  legacy  of  such  high  living 
and  noble  thinking. 

Last  of  all,  a  charming  remembrance  has  reached  me  from 
the  poet,  in  the  shape  of  his  latest  volume  of  poems,  a  lovely 
book  with  the  fair,  firm  autograph,  printed  for  private  circu- 
lation only.  It  bears  the  significant  title  of  " Sundown,"  and 
gives  testimony  to  the  mental  vigor  of  the  poet's  declining 
years  and  his  undiminished  faith  in  the  Eternal  Goodness. 
The  last  poem  of  the  series  gives  us  an  exquisite  companion 
piece  to  the  "Waiting  Beside  the  Sea"— the  poet  waiting  amid 
the  failing  sunset  shadows  of  the  last  days  of  summer— the 
last  summer  of  life,  as  it  may  be,— it  seems  to  him. 

Following  is  the  poem  written  by  Madame  Severance  for  the 
occasion : 

J.  G.  W. 

83rd  Birthday,  December  17,  1890. 
Sweet  saint,  of  our  too  worldly,  sensuous  time! 
Dear  poet,  of  the  lofty  thought  and  rhyme! 
We  give  thee  greeting,  on  this  day  of  days, 


Cfte    S@ot|)er    of   Clu&s         113 

From  thy  fair  namesake's  hallowed  homes,  and  ways— 
Where  pine  and  palm  meet  'neath  a  summer  sky, 
And  snow-peaks  on  the  near  horizon  lie  I 

We  send  glad  greeting  to  thy  "  snow-bound "  height, 
Where  tender  love  keeps  life  and  hearth  alight. 
We  bless  thee  for  that  life,  which  long  has  stood 
Firm-rooted  in  the  faith  that  God  is  good; 
That,  ' '  step  by  step,  since  time  on  earth  began, 
Has  been  the  steady,  upward  growth  of  man," 
And,  sweetly  leavening  thus  the  old-time  creed, 
Will  make  men  brethren  yet,  in  very  deed! 

LETTER  FROM  JOHN   G.  WHITTIER. 

Amesbury,  Mass.,  11  month  20,  1890. 
Dear  Friend : 

Thy  kind  letter  has  been  read  with  great  pleasure.  I 
am  glad  to  know  that  the  fever  of  speculation  which  swept 
over  Southern  California  and  visited  the  San  Gabriel  Valley 
has  subsided,  and  that  the  town  which  honors  me  by  its  name 
is  now  in  a  healthy  and  prosperous  condition  and  that  the 
industry  and  taste  of  the  inhabitants  have  added  much  to  the 
natural  beauties  of  admirable  location.  It  must  prove  a  most 
desirable  home  for  those  who  are  driven  by  our  rigorous  clim- 
ate from  the  Atlantic  Coast. 

Its  oranges,  figs,  nuts,  olives,  apples,  pears,  grapes,  peaches 
and  apricots  look  very  inviting  to  us  on  this  side  of  the  moun- 
tains, where  our  fruit  crop,  always  scanty,  has  this  year  almost 
entirely  failed.  You  are  in  the  center  of  the  great  fruit  growing 
region  which  is  to  supply  the  continent.  Your  future  is  secure. 
Your  peculiar  advantages  of  successful  cultivation  have  no 
rivals. 

My  prayer  is  that,  grateful  to  the  kind  providence  that  has 
led  you  into  a  fairer  Land  of  Promise  than  that  which  the 
Israelites  found  beyond  the  Jordan,  you  may  add  to  your 
annual  harvest  "the  peaceful  fruits  of  righteousness." 

I  am  very  truly  thy  friend, 

JOHN  G.  WHITTIER. 


114         Cfce    Sgotfter    of    C I  it  60 


MEMORIES  OF  EMERSON. 

My  first  personal  acquaintance  with  Emerson  came  through 
his  lecture  trips  in  the  west  in  the  late  forties  and  early  fifties. 
His  earliest  books  had  found  their  way  but  slowly  to  the  west, 
but  the  excitement  and  the  fame  of  his  Divinity  School  address, 
in  1838,  and  his  articles  in  the  Dial  had  won  for  him  hearers 
and  admirers. 

Rev.  Mr.  Forbush  and  A.  D.  Mayo,  of  the  Unitarian  fellow- 
ship, had  already  rallied  a  small  group  of  liberal  thinkers  in 
Cleveland  and  had  thus  helped  largely  to  prepare  a  welcome 
for  such  speakers  as  Ralph  Waldo  Emerson  and  Bronson  Alcott. 
A  few  of  these  sympathetic  friends  found  parlors  and  small 
audiences  gathered  to  listen  reverently  to  Emerson,  though 
somewhat  awed  by  the  majesty  of  this  foremost  leader  of 
thought  in  our  time  and  by  his  majesty  of  bearing.  They  were 
soon  entirely  won  by  the  benignity,  the  simplicity  and  the 
sweetness  that  shone  in  his  radiant  smile  and  by  the  rich, 
sonorous  voice,  which  made  a  musical  setting  for  the  wonderful 
thought.  He  seemed  to  us  then  present  to  be,  as  James  Russell 
Lowell  said  of  him  later,  " living  in  a  diviner  air,"  and  we  felt 
that  he  was  bringing  us  messages  from  a  supernal  sphere.  For 
this  reason  we  were  sent— with  illumined  eyes  and  kindled 
hearts— to  his  later  books  as  they  appeared. 

On  our  removal  to  Boston  in  1855,  we  found  Emerson  speak- 
ing in  the  small  Freeman  Place  chapel,  off  Beacon  street,  to  a 
select  but  worshipful  audience— an  audience  so  at  one  with 
him  that  the  peculiarities  of  his  quiet  and  hesitating  delivery 
were  only  an  additional  charm.  To  meet  him  thereafter,  if 
only  on  the  pavement,  made  the  day  uplifting  and  memorable. 
To  see  him  enter  any  company  was  to  note  the  changed  atmos- 
phere that  his  mere  presence  brought,  and  to  put  to  flight  all 
small  talk  or  even  serious  griefs  and  worries. 

Later  we  had  the  delight  of  his  hearty  endorsement  of  our 
New  England  "Woman's  Club,  and  his  acceptance  of  an  invita- 
tion to  our  mass  meeting  at  Chickering  hall.  As  time  passed, 
he  sometimes  honored  this  club  by  reading  fresh  manuscripts, 


Cfte    9@ot|)et    of    C I  it  60          us 


on  which  he  invited  the  criticism  of  our  members;  but  those 
who  dared  speak  at  all  in  such  presence— Mrs.  Howe,  Mrs. 
Cheney  and  a  few  of  the  more  scholarly  women— had  only  words 
of  praise  for  these  papers. 

We  also  saw  and  heard  him  at  the  famous  and  unique  Radical 
Club,  where  all  honest  and  able  thinkers  on  large  subjects  were 
welcomed,  and  where  Emerson's  profound  grasp  of  all  vital, 
moral  and  literary  topics  made  him  the  reverenced  leader  not 
only,  but  also  the  reconciling  factor. 

Another  supreme  delight— a  landmark  in  one's  life— was  the 
privilege  of  hearing  him  read,  with  impassioned  emphasis,  his 
Boston  Hymn,  written  at  the  crisis  of  the  civil  war,  to  an 
immense  and  electric  audience  in  the  vast  Music  Hall,  of  Boston. 

Two  other  scenes  of  a  quite  different  order  come  to  my  mind. 
We  had  placed  our  eldest  son  in  Mr.  Sanborn's  school  at  Con- 
cord, in  preparation  for  entrance  at  Harvard.  This  also  gave 
him  the  companionship  of  the  sons  and  daughters  of  its  noted 
families,  the  Emersons,  Alcotts,  Hawthornes,  Manns  and  the 
James  family,  and  had  secured  for  him  the  benefit  of  the 
shelter,  with  its  beautiful  life  and  choice  diet,  of  the  Alcott 
home.  Our  son  had  been  trained  and  greatly  benefitted  under 
the  new  Swedish  gymnastics  taught  by  Dr.  Dio  Lewis,  who 
was  then  introducing  the  system  into  the  Boston  and  New 
England  schools.  Mr.  Sanborn  engaged  our  son  to  teach  the 
system  in  his  school  and  Dr.  Lewis  was  secured  to  give  an 
exhibition  of  the  method  in  the  town  hall  of  the  village.  The 
interest  in  this  affair  became  so  great  and  so  contagious  that, 
through  some  rare  good  fortune,  Mr.  Emerson  and  Mr.  Alcott 
were  among  the  many  citizens  who  filled  the  hall.  So  compelling 
was  the  Doctor's  forceful  address,  inspired  largely,  no  doubt, 
by  the  presence  of  the  distinguished  persons  before  him,  that 
when  the  lines  were  formed  for  a  simple  bean-bag  exercise, 
behold,  Emerson  and  Alcott  were  on  their  feet  and  joined  in 
the  vigorous  tossing  of  the  bags. 

Emerson,  however,  at  the  close  of  the  first  exercise  seemed 
to  awaken  from  the  spell  of  the  Doctor's  magnetism  and  turning 
to  me  said  in  a  half -serious,  half -quizzical  way,  "Mrs,  Sever- 


116          Cfte    Qgotfter    of    CIu60 


ance,  are  not  the  Doctor 's  sentences  somewhat  over-weighted  ? ' ' 

Of  a  still  different  type  was  another  experience  of  mine. 
The  collector  of  the  port,  Thomas  Russell— the  brilliant  son- 
in-law  of  the  original  and  beloved  Father  Taylor  of  Bethel 
memory— had  invited  a  few  friends  to  join  himself  and  Emer- 
son on  a  trip  in  his  revenue  cutter.  On  the  way,  we  visited  the 
training  ship  for  boys,  which  lay  anchored  in  the  harbor.  The 
sail  was  a  joy  and  the  companionship  of  the  scholar  charming, 
but  when  Emerson  was  called  upon  to  address  the  boys,  our 
sympathies  were  severely  strained— so  difficult  it  seemed  for 
the  poet  and  philosopher  to  get  in  touch  with  these  unwonted 
hearers.  The  sincerest  sympathy  we  knew  was  there— but  not 
the  skill  of  practice  in  addressing  boys.  The  art  of  gleaning 
knowledge  and  even  wisdom,  as  he  declared,  from  the  unlettered 
stage  driver  or  sailor,  was  easy  and  common  to  Emerson,  but 
not  this  effort,  in  which  he  was  outdone  by  the  less  scholarly 
of  the  visitors. 

Many  enchanting  and  inspiring  glimpses  of  Concord  life  I 
had  from  time  to  time  through  visits  to  the  hospitable  home  of 
Mrs.  Horace  Mann,  where,  by  the  lively  reports  of  the  notable 
people  and  their  doings,  and  through  the  unequalled  courtesy 
and  enthusiasm  of  Elizabeth  Peabody,  I  learned  to  know  and 
prize  the  charm  of  Concord  and  its  people. 

My  latest  glimpse  of  the  historic  town  was  on  a  return  visit 
from  California  when  I  met  many  of  these  and  other  noble 
guests  at  sessions  of  the  Concord  School  of  Philosophy  in  the 
rear  of  Mr.  Alcott's  home.  At  this  time  I  had  an  impressive 
sight  of  Mr.  Emerson's  grave  in  Sleepy  Hollow,  in  which  I  was 
accompanied  by  his  friend  and  mine— an  artist  who  made  me  a 
fine  water  color  sketch  of  the  glowing,  rosy  granite  boulder, 
beside  which  are  the  graves  of  Hawthorne,  Thoreau,  the  Alcotts 
and  others  of  Concord's  nobility.  Peace  has  come  to  these 
sleepers,  and  visitors  from  all  lands  flock  to  their  graves  as  to 
holy  shrines. 

As  to  Emerson's  books  in  prose  and  poetry,  they  seem  to 
cover  all  our  own  later  development  of  thought,  in  literature, 
in  morals  and  in  religion,  and  they  might  well  be  called  the 


Cfte    ^otfiet    of   C I  u  60         117 

scriptures  of  the  twentieth  century— and  no  doubt  of  many 
later  ones.  I  must  implore  those  who  have  not  already  read 
them  thoroughly  and  resolutely  to  do  so  at  once  and  thus  gain 
the  nobler  outlook  on  life  and  on  service  to  their  fellows  which 
breathes  through  them  and  rings  like  a  trumpet  call  to  the  ear. 

I  should  like  to  quote  largely  but  must  forbear,  referring 
only  to  Emerson's  portrayal  and  impeachment  of  the  corrup- 
tion of  the  times  in  social  and  political  life  and  to  his  pro- 
nounced attitude  toward  the  effort  for  woman's  recognition  as 
a  citizen  and  a  voter.  At  a  Woman's  Rights  Convention  in 
Worcester,  Mass.,  in  1855,  he  said:  "Let  the  land  be  purged  of 
every  barbarous  remainder;— of  every  barbarous  impediment 
to  woman.  If  you  do  refuse  her  a  vote,  you  will  also  refuse  to 
tax  her,  according  to  our  Teutonic  principle,  'No  representation 
—no  tax.'  "  Again  he  said:  "The  new  claim  of  woman  to 
a  political  status  is,  of  itself,  an  honorable  testimony  to  the 
civilization  which  has  given  her  a  social  status  new  in  history. " 

Emerson's  companionship  with  Margaret  Fuller  as  an  equal 
and  his  recognition  of  her  ideas  and  ideals  is  practical  proof 
of  his  attitude  toward  the  sex. 

I  am  happy  to  add  a  striking  instance  of  the  intense  sympathy 
with  him  in  these  views  and  in  loyalty  to  her  sex,  of  the  late 
Mrs.  Emerson.  When  the  movement  to  crush  the  efforts  of 
women  for  the  ballot  and  its  advantages  was  set  on  foot  by 
politicians  of  the  basest  stamp,  I  went  to  her  one  day  with  a 
protest  and  asked  her  signature.  She  answered,  rising  to  her 
full  height  and  with  her  eyes  aflame,  "Is  it  possible?  It  is 
infamous !  If  it  shall  be  done,  I  will  leave  the  country— it  will 
be  my  country  no  longer. ' ' 

Ah,  yes,  as  a  poet  has  sung  of  Emerson — 

Thou  wert  the  morning  star  among  the  living 

Ere  thy  fair  light  had  fled; 
Now,  having  died,  thou  art  as  Hesperus,  giving, 

New  splendor  to  the  dead, 

and  we  may  add,  to  the  living  to  whom  he  still  speaks— and 
the  world  listens. 


118         cfte   epotfjer    of   Clu60 


WENDELL  PHILLIPS. 

During  our  Boston  life  we  met  many  times  and  on  many  oc- 
casions, Wendell  Phillips,  the  unequalled  orator  and  an  Apollo 
of  the  most  winning  personality.  He  was  never  known  to  deny 
himself  to  any  gathering,  and  declined  no  opportunity  to  lift  his 
voice  in  defense  of  liberty,  for  all  colors  and  races. 

The  time  came  when  all  prejudice  and  politics  turned  against 
him  so  bitterly  that  young  men,  mostly  Germans,  made  them- 
selves a  volunteer  body-guard  and  escorted  him,  in  broken 
ranks,  to  and  from  the  place  of  meeting.  I  was  made  very 
happy  one  day  when  returning  from  a  State  House  hearing, 
walking  somewhat  in  the  rear  of  the  Phillips  group,  to  hear  my 
lovely  but  conservative  sister,  then  visiting  us,  beg  that  we  step 
up  nearer,  ''as  the  sight  of  women  might  do  much  in  pre- 
venting an  attack  by  the  roughs." 

My  son  Seymour  and  I  were  present,  in  the  gallery,  at  the 
so-called  "Law  and  Order"  riot  in  Tremont  Temple,  when 
Phillips  tried  to  speak  and  was  hissed  down  by  clerks,  it  was 
said,  who  were  hired  to  break  up  the  meeting.  He  persisted 
long  enough  to  face  the  reporters  below  the  platform  and  give 
them  his  word  for  the  public.  Governor  Andrews  would  have 
sent  troops  to  quell  the  disturbance,  it  was  whispered  about, 
but  he  could  not  do  so  until  called  upon  by  the  mayor.  Fred 
Douglas,  Frank  Sanborn,  Thoreau,  George  L.  Stearns  and 
others,  were  on  the  platform ;  but  to  prevent  violence,  they  at 
last  filed  out. 

Apropos  of  Phillips 's  valiant,  unhesitating  services,  it  is 
interesting  to  know  that  he  confessed  to  me  that  his  natural 
tastes  and  talents  were  not  for  the  forum.  "I  should  have 
been  born  in  Italy,"  he  said. 

THE  GARRISONS. 

The  Garrisons,  father,  mother,  sons  and  the  one  daughter, 
were  a  delight  to  meet  and  were  our  very  dear  friends.  Their 
house  was  an  oasis  of  peace  and  cheer,  Mr.  Garrison  and  the 
devoted  wife  and  beloved  mother  being  the  center  of  its  life. 


Cfte    egotfter    of   Clu60         119 


This  home  was  well  ordered,  even  in  the  early  times  when  Mrs. 
Garrison  had  small  help  in  its  care,  and  it  was  subject  to  unex- 
pected company  at  any  hour.  The  daughter,  Fannie,  was 
gifted  musically,  and  enlivened  the  evening  hours  with  her 
piano.  She  later  married  Mr.  Villard,  who  gave  her  the  devo- 
tion of  a  true  lover,  and  enabled  her  to  indulge  her  generous 
impulses  toward  the  many  friends  of  early  days  who  were  in 
any  need. 

Mr.  Villard  had  been  at  Port  Royal  during  the  war  as  cor- 
respondent for  the  New  York  Tribune.  Mr.  Severance  had 
taken  him  and  Nathaniel  Page,  another  Tribune  correspondent, 
into  his  Custom  House  mess,  and  had  found  them  delightful  ad- 
ditions to  it.  When  Mr.  Villard  returned  to  the  north,  Mr. 
Severance  gave  him  a  note  to  me.  I  found  him  desiring 
earnestly— with  all  the  German  student  enthusiasm  for  the 
living  American  defenders  of  liberty— to  meet  the  abolitionist 
leaders.  My  introduction  of  him  to  the  Garrisons  gave  him 
great  pleasure  and  ended  in  his  marriage  to  the  daughter. 

One  of  the  -many  delightful  occasions  when  we  were  bidden 
to  the  Garrison  home  was  to  view  a  bust  of  the  "grand  old 
man,"  just  completed  by  the  talented  poet  and  sculptor,  Anne 
Whitney,  of  Boston,  whom  it  was  also  my  privilege  to  know 
and  admire.  Another  pleasant  memory  is  of  the  day  when,  in 
company  with  the  Garrisons,  Wendell  Phillips,  Governor 
Andrew,  and  others,  we  witnessed  the  unveiling  of  a  statue 
of  John  Brown,  at  the  charming  suburban  home  of  George  L. 
Stearns,  of  Medford.  Mr.  Stearns  was  a  hero  of  the  anti- 
slavery  campaign,  sparing  not  time,  strength  or  purse  in  its 
furtherance,  and  Mrs.  Stearns,  a  charming  woman,  gave 
generous  hospitality  and  service  for  the  cause. 

THE  BEECHERS. 

We  have  all  heard  of  the  squib  of  a  wit— "All  the  world  is 
divided  into  three  classes,  saints,  sinners,  and  the  Beecher 
family."  I  have  found  the  family,  as  General  Saxton  said 
of  the  negroes  under  his  rule  during  the  civil  war,  "intensely 


120         Cfte   Qiotfter    of   C I  it  60 


human,— very  humane  and  lovable  saints  and  fascinating 
sinners. " 

Very  interesting  has  been  my  personal  experience  with  some 
members  of  the  Beecher  family.  I  first  met  Katherine,  the 
eldest  and  sturdiest  of  the  sisters.  She  was  indefatigable  in 
her  schemes  for  the  higher  education  and  uplifting  of  woman, 
and  many  of  them  reached  realization,  even  in  her  own  day. 
I  met  her  often  in  New  England  and  enjoyed  the  hearty  en- 
thusiasm and  the  ability  which  she  brought  to  her  work. 

One  incident  I  well  remember ;  her  description  of  a  composi- 
tion which  she  was  set  to  write  by  the  family,  at  the  age  of 
eight  years,  on  "the  everlasting  punishment  of  the  wicked!" 
Think  of  it— at  that  age !  And,  helped  by  the  strenuous  belief 
and  discussion  of  her  elders,  she  valiantly  went  at  her  topic. 

My  husband  was  appointed  collector  of  customs  at  Port 
Royal,  by  Secretary  Chase,  during  the  civil  war,  and  I  spent 
two  winters  with  him  there.  My  first  meeting  with  Mrs.  Isa- 
bella Beecher  Hooker,  was  after  a  visit  to  our  eldest  son,  who 
was  then  in  Beaufort,  S.  C.,  also  under  the  treasury  department. 
As  I  boarded  the  little  steamer  for  Port  Royal,  a  sweet-faced 
lady  came  up  the  gang-plank,  beaming  with  delight  as  she 
caught  sight  of  the  bouquet  of  winter  roses  which  I  carried. 
She  asked,  "Is  this  my  welcome  to  the  sunny  Southland?" 
Of  course  I  presented  them  to  her,  as  I  passed.  When  I  reached 
our  headquarters  at  Port  Royal,  a  telegram  was  brought  to 
me  which  announced  that  the  lady  whom  I  had  passed  was  Mrs. 
Isabella  Beecher  Hooker,  who  would  come  to  us  on  the  return 
steamer.  She  had  come  south  to  find  a  friend  who  had  been 
wounded,  but  had  learned  that  the  wound  was  not  serious. 

By  her  invitation  I  visited  the  camp  of  her  brother,  Colonel 
James  Beecher,  whose  regiment  was  stationed  on  Morris  Island, 
comanding  Fort  Wagner.  This  visit  was  a  most  unique  ex- 
perience, and  my  nearest  glimpse  of  war  and  its  horrors. 
The  Colonel  was  a  most  considerate  and  helpful  host  and  put 
us  on  as  much  of  a  peace  footing  as  was  possible  in  sight  of 
the  enemy. 


Cfte    ®otfter    of   C I  it  60         121 


From  this  beginning  there  followed  many  talks  on  topics 
of  mutual  interest  and  various  visits  from  Mrs.  Hooker  in  our 
New  England  Home,  often  in  the  interests  of  the  suffrage 
work.  We  also  spent  delightful  hours  at  the  Hartford  home 
of  the  Hookers.  Their  charming  home  was  in  the  outskirts  of 
the  city,  only  a  block  or  two  from  that  of  Mrs.  Harriet 
Beecher  Stowe,  which  stood  on  the  river  bank ;  while  the  elder 
sister,  Mrs.  Perkins,  lived  directly  opposite  the  Hookers,  in 
a  nest  made  bird-like  and  beautiful  by  ivy  vines.  These  were 
rooted  in  a  pretty  conservatory  on  the  south,  climbed  freely 
through  a  bay  window  into  the  long  library-parlor  and  made 
a  living  frame  for  the  portraits  and  paintings  on  its  walls. 
Mrs.  Perkins  was  the  first  traveler  to  introduce  the  English 
ivy  for  house  decoration  into  this  country.  Mrs.  Stowe  had 
imitated  her  in  growing  and  using  it  in  the  same  pretty  fashion 
in  her  home. 

One  of  my  most  charming  memories  is  that  of  the  silver 
wedding  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Hooker.  The  house,  with  its  many 
simple  but  original  effects  and  its  beautiful  vistas  through 
ample  and  vine-screened  windows,  was  a  bower  for  a  bride  in 
itself.  But  the  supreme  beauty  of  the  place  was  in  the  grounds 
—the  noble  trees,  with  their  dancing  shadows,  the  velvety 
emerald  turf,  the  sylvan  dell  which  lay  in  full  view  from  the 
broad  piazza,  where  I  was  permitted  to  have  my  outlook  on 
the  fairy  scene  and  the  illustrious  company.  And  of  all  that 
company  my  heart  and  eyes  feasted  upon  the  family  circle, 
which  at  the  luncheon  hour  gathered  about  one  long  table  on 
the  lawn.  Here  were  gathered  that  gifted  family  of  brothers 
and  sisters— a  noticeable  group,  anywhere.  Off  duty  now, 
each  seemed  conscious  only  of  the  old  time  home  atmosphere 
and  the  exchange  of  bon  mot  and  repartee  was  almost  as  rapid 
and  incessant  as  the  flash  of  light  artillery  in  action.  When 
the  four,  Henry  Ward,  Mrs.  Stowe,  Mrs.  Hooker  and  Mrs. 
Perkins,  turned  to  reminiscences  of  their  youthful  days  at 
home,  the  oldest  and  soberest  of  the  group  broke  into  convulsive 
laughter  which  brought  the  tears. 
I  had  previously  met  Mrs.  Stowe  in  New  York  and  Boston, 


122         Cfte    Sgjotfter    of    Clu60 


in  connection  with  various  philanthropic  efforts.  She  was  a 
quiet,  undemonstrative  person,  clear  headed  and  practical  in 
suggestion  and  counsel.  There  was  about  her  no  hint  of  any 
consciousness  of  her  remarkable  ability  or  of  the  eminence 
which  she  held  in  the  world  of  letters ;  even  when  she  was  the 
central  figure  in  the  famous  company  which  her  publishers 
gathered  in  her  honor,  on  her  seventieth  birthday,  at  the 
elegant  country  home  of  Governor  Clanin,  of  Massachusetts, 
and  his  accomplished  and  noble  wife.  In  her  own  home,  with 
its  unique  finish  and  furnishings,  and  its  tributes  from  many 
lands,  Mrs.  Stowe  was  also  the  simple,  courteous  hostess,  lending 
herself  most  graciously  to  the  entertainment  of  any  who  had 
claims  upon  her. 

Of  Mrs.  Stowe 's  family,  it  is  perhaps  pleasant  to  know 
something.  It  consisted  of  two  daughters— twins— who  used 
in  their  earlier  days,  it  is  said,  to  pose  somewhat  in  public  as 
the  daughters  of  an  illustrious  mamma.  Of  late  years  I  have 
lost  sight  of  them,  but  know  that  they  have  made  no  special 
position  for  themselves  in  the  world  of  art,  letters  or  philan- 
thropy. The  third  daughter,  the  domestic  one— the  Cinderella 
-—she  was  sometimes  called,  of  the  family,  married  an  Episcopal 
clergyman  and  has  been  a  true  helpmate.  The  son,  Charlie, 
the  supposed  original  of  the  clever  sketch,  ''What  shall  we  do 
with  our  Charlie?"  the  apparent  puzzle  of  his  parents,  became 
a  credit  and  a  comfort  to  them,  as  a  clergyman  of  fair  and 
useful  career. 

Thomas  K.  Beecher,  the  own  brother  of  Mrs.  Hooker,  as  was 
also  Colonel  James  Beecher,  I  met  at  Elmira,  New  York,  where 
he  was  the  beloved  and  inspiring  pastor.  He  was  most  cordial 
and  genial  in  manner.  He  often  visited  the  Water  Cure  estab- 
lishment where  I  was  taking  treatment,  and  joined  in  a  game 
of  ten  pins,  in  which  we  were  pitted  against  each  other  in  an 
amiable  rivalry  as  representatives  of  our  respective  states- 
Ohio  and  New  York.  He,  with  the  Beecher  manliness  and 
chivalry,  did  not  scorn  to  acknowledge  a  woman  as  worthy  of 
his  "  balls. "  He  one  day  committed  an  offense  which  came 
perilously  near  the  unpardonable,  by  listening,  uninvited  and 


Cfte    Qjjot&et    of    Clu60          123 


invisible,  to  a  repetition  of  my  maiden  address  at  Cleveland, 
which  at  the  urgent  request  of  Dr.  Gleason,  I  had  read  to  the 
women  patients.  When  I  had  finished,  Mr.  Beecher  stepped 
from  his  hiding  place  with  the  most  exultant  air  of  victory. 

But  he  soon  made  amends  for  his  fault  by  valuable  and 
kindly  advice,  turning  mainly  upon  the  point,  which  he  set  forth 
with  all  the  Beecher  sense  of  humor,  by  declaring  that  like 
himself  with  his  first  sermon,  I  had  felt  in  my  fright  that  it 
might  be  my  last  opportunity  for  such  service,  and  must, 
therefore,  hold  back  nothing  congruous  or  helpful.  I  had  used 
material  enough  for  three  addresses  in  the  one,  he  said. 

Henry  Ward  Beecher  I  met  at  the  raising  of  the  flag  at 
Fort  Sumpter— one  of  the  most  remarkable  of  our  experiences 
in  the  south.  William  Lloyd  Garrison  was  also  one  of  that 
historic  company  which,  after  the  event,  gathered  at  the  famous 
Charleston  Hotel,  in  the  midst  of  the  desolation  wrought  by 
war  upon  the  fair  city.  Afterwards  I  met  Beecher  at  a  suffrage 
gathering  arranged  by  Mrs.  Hooker,  in  the  church  of  her 
pastor,  Dr.  Burton.  Here  I  found  that  I  had  been  placed  on 
the  list  of  speakers  to  follow  Mr.  Beecher,  and  was  well  nigh 
rebellious  in  consequence. 

MRS.  JULIA  WARD  HOWE. 

One  of  the  opportunities  which  I  had  desired,  in  coming  to 
Boston,  was  that  of  meeting  our  brilliant  scholar  and  writer, 
Mrs.  Julia  Ward  Howe,  whose  volumes  of  poems  I  had  enjoyed 
in  my  western  home.  Her  husband,  Dr.  Howe,  had  thrilled 
all  of  our  hearts  by  his  heroic  work  in  the  struggle  of  the 
Greeks  for  freedom.  As  a  result  of  his  efforts,  a  cultivated  and 
progressive  young  Greek,  Mr.  Anagnos,  came  to  this  country 
and  was  for  a  long  time  assistant  to  Dr.  Howe  in  his  original 
and  successful  work  in  the  Institute  for  the  Blind,  at  South 
Boston,  over  which  Mr.  Anagnos  has  been  the  presiding 
official  since  the  death  of  Dr.  Howe. 

Another  fortunate  result  of  this  relation  was  the  marriage  of 
Mr.  Anagnos  to  the  exquisite,  intellectual  and  poetic,  Julia 


124         Cfte   figotfter    of 


Howe,  the  eldest  daughter  of  the  family,  who  was  as  truly  a 
helpmeet  to  her  husband  in  his  work  as  she  had  been  to  her 
father. 

When  our  New  England  Woman's  Club  was  organized  and 
appointed  its  first  open  meeting  to  enlighten  the  public  as  to  the 
purposes  and  plans  of  the  new  candidate  for  favor  and  endorse- 
ment, Mrs.  Howe  was  invited  to  be  one  of  the  speakers  who 
were  to  give  prestige  and  influence  to  the  movement,  and  later 
became  one  of  our  members.  When  organizing  our  committees, 
she  was  unanimously  elected  chairman  of  the  Art  and  Litera- 
ture committees  combined,  and  by  reason  of  her  social  and 
literary  gifts  held  the  office  with  great  credit  to  herself  and 
entire  satisfaction  to  the  club,  until  elected  president  upon  my 
own  departure  for  California.  Her  ready  repartee  and  cordial 
comradeship  made  the  simple  tea  which  closed  the  committee's 
sessions,  a  thronged  and  much  enjoyed  occasion.  I  had  not 
the  gifts  to  shine  there,  but  sat  and  shared  gladly  in  its  flood 
of  brilliancy.  Those  were  red  letter  days  on  the  calendar  of 
our  club.  I  recall  one  occasion  on  which  Professor  John  Fiske, 
of  Cambridge,  was  the  speaker,  discussing  the  theory  of  evolu- 
tion and  man's  descent  from  the  ape.  Under  this  Mrs.  Howe 
grew  restive  and  finally  made  vigorous  protest  against  the 
latter  theory.  The  impulse  came  to  me  to  suggest  that  the  word 
"descent"  changed  to  "ascent,"  would  overcome  her  objec- 
tions :  but  with  my  usual  timidity,  I  hesitated  to  offer  the  sug- 
gestion in  such  presence.  The  change  was  made  later,  as  we 
know,  by  Dr.  Drummond. 

I  dared  to  join  Mrs.  Howe,  Mrs.  Livermore  and  Lucy  Stone, 
as  speakers  at  Suffrage  meetings  in  Lowell  and  other  suburban 
towns,  and  was  comforted  to  find  that  Mrs.  Howe,  like  myself, 
was  dependent  upon  pen  and  paper.  We  two  made  a  memorable 
trip  together  to  a  suffrage  convention  at  Cleveland,  on  which 
journey  she  generously  shared  with  me  her  lower  berth  in  the 
crowded  car,  sharing  also,  an  extra  wrap,  a  shawl  which  had 
been  made  historic  by  her  visit  to  the  Acropolis  at  Athens. 

I  recall  a  very  delightful  afternoon  with  Mrs.  Howe,  at  her 
Newport  cottage,  located  in  a  pretty  dell.  Here  I  had  the 


C6e    90otf)er    of   C 1 1160         125 

pleasure  of  meeting  her  nephew,  Marion  Crawford,  on  his 
return  from  India.  He  was  then  a  splendid  specimen  of  manly 
vigor,  but  as  yet  inclined  to  pessimism  and  uncertain  as  to  his 
future.  I  remember  rallying  him  somewhat  on  his  attitude. 
Later,  after  returning  to  his  mother's  home  in  Italy,  he  began 
his  successful  career  as  a  novelist. 

I  treasured  some  verses  written  by  Mrs.  Howe  in  my  honor, 
on  my  return  visit  to  Boston,  in  1881;  but  some  avaricious 
admirer  of  hers,  has  I  fear,  abstracted  them  from  my  hoard. 
Even  now,  the  dear  and  far-famed  woman  is  presiding  over  the 
Club  to  which  she  has  been  so  much  and  from  which  she  has 
received  rare  honor.  She  has  given  her  valuable  services  to  it 
with  unabated  vigor,  as  well  as  to  suffrage,  peace  and  all  other 
good  causes  that  make  for  human  welfare,  at  home  or  abroad. 
At  a  late  noted  gathering  of  Greek  visitors  in  Boston,  she  spoke 
before  them  in  their  own  tongue  and  was  decorated  by  them 
with  a  medal.  We  may  well  say  that  other  nations,  as  well  as 
our  own,  already  call  her  " blessed." 

JENNIE  C.  CROLY. 

My  own  personal  knowledge  of  Mrs.  Croly  was  limited  to 
a  few  occasions— a  visit  to  her  rooms  in  New  York;  a  dinner, 
as  an  invited  guest,  at  Delmonico's,  while  she  was  president  of 
Sorosis;  and  later,  glimpses  of  her  at  the  home  of  a  friend 
and  neighbor  of  her  early  days,  in  my  own  Boston  suburb. 

Mrs.  Croly  and  I  were  working  in  Boston  and  New  York  with 
the  same  aim  but  on  slightly  varying  lines  and  methods.  As  is 
shown  in  Mrs.  Croly 's  "History  of  the  Club  Movement  in 
America,"  the  impulse  in  her  city  came  from  the  affront  to  the 
women  of  the  press,  who  had  then  reached  numbers  and  pub- 
licity, by  the  Men's  Press  Club  refusing  to  permit  the  attend- 
ance of  their  women  co-workers  at  a  dinner  given  to  Charles 
Dickens. 

Mrs.  Croly  was  a  self -made  woman  both  financially  and  in- 
tellectually, at  a  time  when  this  achievment  was  much  more 
formidable  and  commendable  than  in  the  present  day.  She 


126          Cfte   fit&ot&er    of    Clu6$ 

bravely  made  the  most  of  her  opportunities,  and  thus  and  by 
her  stimulating  example  helped  create  better  opportunities  for 
other  women.  In  her  earlier  years  she  won  self-support  by  her 
needle,  which  she  laid  down  to  wield  an  able  pen.  In  journalism 
she  was  preceeded  by  Margaret  Fuller  and  Lydia  Maria  Child, 
but  she  was  one  of  the  pioneers  in  the  field  and  won  her  way 
well  to  the  fore. 

Of  her  work  in  the  club  movement,  her  own  history  bears 
noteworthy  record.  This  work  is  indispensable  to  club  libraries 
and  to  women  who  wish  to  familiarize  themselves  with  past  and 
present  club  activities.  It  is  a  monumental  work— her  own 
best  monument— next  to  her  club,  Sorosis.  Let  us  take  it  as 
her  bequest  to  us  as  organizations;  let  us  illustrate  it  anew 
by  nobler  deeds  in  our  club  life,  by  fidelity  to  our  best  stand- 
ards and  traditions,  as  she  would  have  us  do. 

THE  FREMONTS. 

"I  consider  it  one  of  the  greatest  pleasures  of  my  life  in 
California  to  have  known  General  Fremont  and  family  as  near 
neighbors  and  cordial  friends,  and  thus  found  my  early  admira- 
tion for  General  and  Mrs.  Fremont  fully  justified.  They 
were  my  near  neighbors  and  most  enjoyable.  It  is  one  of  my 
keenest  satisfactions  that  I  was  enabled  to  enlist  a  circle  of 
sympathetic  friends  in  forming  a  committee,  to  secure  a  home 
in  Los  Angeles  for  the  beloved  widow  and  devoted  daughter  of 
General  Fremont.  His  death  cut  off  the  pension  which  had 
come  to  him  from  the  government  only  after  exhausting  per- 
sonal effort  at  Washington  but  a  short  time  before,  and  left  his 
family  almost  unprovided  for,  after  his  long  and  valuable  ser- 
vice to  his  country.  The  responses  to  the  appeal  of  this  com- 
mittee were  generous  and  gracious,  the  list  being  led  by  Mrs. 
Phoebe  Hearst,  C.  P.  Huntington,  President  R.  B.  Hayes,  Mrs. 
Lucretia  Garfield,  Mrs.  Jane  L.  Stanford,  Mrs.  Fanny  Garrison 
Villard,  Mrs.  Henry  Ivison,  and  many  local  friends.  A  lot  was 
selected  along  the  line  of  the  daily  walks  of  General  and  Mrs. 
Fremont  and  the  house  was  built  after  plans  chosen  by  Mrs. 


Cfte    Qgotftet    of    Clu&tf         127 

Fremont.  Never  have  more  hearty  enjoyment  and  sincere  grat- 
itude repaid  an  effort  of  this  kind,  and  than  in  this  case. 

"Mrs.  Fremont's  letters  and  notes  were,  like  herself,  bril- 
liant, spontaneous  and  original.  She  writes  in  a  letter  of  six 
pages  (from  only  around  the  corner  of  four  city  squares)  of 
her  effort  from  day  to  day  to  visit  myself,  of  the  dressing  of 
Christmas  dolls,  of  sitting  to  Mr.  Borglum  for  her  bust,  and  of 
her  bed  of  violets.  'Some  day,  I  will  be  footloose  again  and 
until  then  be  sure  I  often  think  of  you  and  wish  to  be  with 
you.'  Again,  speaking  of  the  new,  soft  green  paper  on  the 
walls,  'You  know  what  it  is  to  have  walls  insensibly  influenc- 
ing your  thoughts.'  Apropos  of  our  dietetic  discussions,  she 
describes  minutely  the  process  of  boiling  eggs,  which  she  has 
found  best  for  her,  'I  have  made  a  little  discovery  on  my 
stomach  which  may  be  of  use  to  your  limited  diet.  ***** 
This  new  method  has  put  me  into  absolute  equilibrium  of  body, 
and  mind  follows.' 

"She  writes  again:  'The  tourist  visits  have  begun,  very  nice, 
but  very  time  consuming.  They  come  in  'job  lots,'  on  some 
days.'  She  speaks  of  the  delight  of  hearing  the  comments  of 
old  army  and  navy  friends,  in  admiration  of  the  artistic 
touches  and  comforts  of  the  new  home,  where  she  shows  them, 
also  her  'wreckage'  of  the  earlier  days.  She  writes  fully  of 
her  children  and  grandchildren;  the  kindergarten  system,  in 
which  she  was  deeply  interested;  'I  wish,  literally,  from  my 
heart,  to  be  of  use  in  that  most  wise,  patriotic  and  benevolent 
care  of  children,  our  future  citizens  and  law-makers,  or  law- 
breakers. It  is  our  national  fault  if  reform  schools  have  to  be 
provided.  The  kindergarten  is  the  prevention,  while  the  cure 
becomes  a  doubtful  problem,  after  neglected  childhood.  The 
kindergarten  is  wise  economy.  We  all  need  to  learn  the  in- 
stincts, the  curious  outreaching  and  unforeseen  grasps  of  these 
young  creatures.'  Writing  of  the  annoyance  of  neglected 
children  in  the  streets  in  her  own  neighborhood,  she  says,  'It 
must  either  be  Herod,  or,  the  kindergarten.' 

"There  are  many  tender  personal  expressions:  'Can't  you 
try  a  little  of  that  enlightened  selfishness  which  Carlisle  says 


128         Cfte   ®otj)et    of   Clufi$ 


must  govern  wise  people?  I  am  as  wise  as  an  owl  in  my 
seclusion  and,  consequently,  well!'  By  way  of  remedy  for 
overdoing:  'I  expect  to  hear  that  you  were  at  the  club  this 
morning;  hot  weather,  a  crowd,  perhaps  a  hot  discussion,  are 
well-known  remedies  for  over-wrought  nerves!'  'As  I  cannot 
walk  to  you,  I  send  you  this  two-cent  dose  of  wisdom,  feeling 
sure  that  it  will  not  be  taken.  But  I  will  go  on  wishing  you 
well  all  the  same  and  you  will  go  on  getting  well  again  and 
doing  it  all  over,  in  spite  of  your  disapproving  but  affection- 
ate friend.'  *  *  *  'There's  a  great  deal  of  sun  in  our 
lives,  too,  yet.  Get  well  and  make  the  best  of  yourself  for 
yourself  and  for  those  who  love  you,  of  whom  I  am  one,  as 
you  know.' 

"  'Los  Angeles,  Sept.  7,  1895.  My  dear  Mrs.  Severance:— 
You  will  do  your  friends  a  kindness  by  sending  them 
this,  my  positive  denial,  of  any  Eugene  Beauharnais  as  a  rela- 
tive. Why  couldn't  he  call  himself  Bonaparte  at  once?  * 

*  *  As  a  Virginian  of  degree,  I  was  brought  up  to  know 
my  pedigree  as  clearly  as  my  catechism.' 

"I  have  also  had  delightful  letters  from  the  beloved  daught- 
er, Miss  Fremont,  and  from  the  wives  of  Lieutenants  Frank 
and  Charles  Fremont,  and  have  enjoyed  visits  from  these 
families  on  their  coming  to  Los  Angeles.  One  of  the  family 
letters  speaks  thus  of  the  'Dear,  tiny,  wee  Benton,'  who  stood 
with  so  manly  a  bearing  beside  his  mother,  at  a  reception  at 
'El  Nido:'  'He  is  a  treasure,  and  being  gifted  with  a  fund  of 
words  and  a  vivid  imagination,  we  are  constantly  led  along 
new  paths,  not  marked  out  by  Lindley  Murray  or  the  'un- 
abridged.' What  he  positively  lacks  in  accurate  knowledge 
of  life,  love  and  all  things,  he  makes  up  for  in  manner.  Alto- 
gether he  is  a  pocket  edition  of  a  charming  man  of  the  world, 
unrevised,  with  the  proofs  not  corrected.'  ' 

J.  C.  F. 
(Written  by  C.  M.  S.     Printed  in  Overland.) 

Fremont!  A  name  to  thrill  thro*  coming  time, 
Brave,  noble  hearts,  of  ev;ry  race  and  clime! 
Dauntless  explorer!  who  thro'  perils  dire, 


of    CIu60          129 


With  brow  unfaltering  and  a  heart  of  fire, 
Won  for  his  land  an  empire  and  a  sea, 
And  led  the  "pioneers"  of  states-to-be! 

A  knightly  leader,  and  beloved  by  all;  — 
An  office-holder  but  at  freedom's  call;— 
A  soldier-statesman,  quick  to  strike  the  blow 
Soonest  to  save,  by  crippling  sore  the  foe;  — 
A  husband-lover,  to  his  latest  day, 
And  worthy  her  who  was  his  manhood's  stay;- 
Such  shall  his  country  yet,  with  one  acclaim, 
Write  on  her  proudest  roll  his  stainless  name! 


HELEN  HUNT  JACKSON. 

My  own  knowledge  of  "H.  H."  began  with  her  brilliant 
letters  from  abroad,  read  to  us  by  Wentworth  Higginson,  as 
they  came  to  him  or  to  his  wife.  I  remember  especially  the 
lengthy  description  she  gave  of  a  ceremony  at  the  College  of 
Rome  which  was  most  piquant,  full  of  color  and  of  dash.  She 
saw  like  a  poet,  a  philosopher  and  a  painter,  in  one. 

Later  I  visited  her  home,  the  pretty  "poet's  nest"  in  Colo- 
rado, although  she  was  absent  at  the  time. 

I  first  met  her  here  in  Los  Angeles.  How  full  she  was  of  life 
and  joy!  She  found  this  city  "so  quaint— so  rubbishy— the 
place  and  the  people."  I  spent  some  pleasant  hours  with  her, 
and  recall  a  luncheon  at  my  own  home  when  she  proved  herself 
a  royal  guest  and  raconteur.  I  particularly  recollect  her 
dashing  description  of  a  merciless  young  creature  who  had 
just  stolen  in  upon  her  precious  privacy  and  enlisted  her  sym- 
pathy; for  in  her  own  literary  career  one  large-hearted  friend 
had  greatly  assisted  her,  and  she  in  turn,  had  given  her  visitor 
hints  which  had  involved  a  mention  of  contemporary  authors. 
And  this  interview,  the  ungracious  creature  had  exaggerated, 
amplified  and  printed!  Mrs.  Jackson  was  royal  again  in  her 
righteous  rage  against  "such  villainy." 

My  last  sight  of  the  author  of  Ramona  was  on  her  bed  in  her 
last  illness.  She  was  not  only  a  dainty  picture  here,  as  always, 
but  so  full  of  delightful  humor  that  I  recall  her  most  vividly  as 


130         cfie    sgjotijet    of    Clu60 

she  appeared  at  that  time,  and  Pierpont's  lines  come  to  me 
now— 

I  cannot  make  her  dead, 
Her  fair  sunshiny  head— 

The  silvery  shine  of  her  soft,  white  hair  had  so  regal,  so 
defiant  a  strength. 

I  read  a  letter  from  a  dear,  mutual  friend,  whom  we  both 
believed  most  unfairly  caricatured  in  a  recent  magazine  story; 
the  doctor  coming  in  upon  us,  she  begged  me  to  bring  it  to 
finish  another  day. 

But  this  was  my  last  sight  of  her,  my  last  words  from  her, 
except  one  precious  letter,  in  which  she  parried  my  attempt 
to  defend  Los  Angeles  against  the  cruel  thought  of  having  been 
unkind  to  her— its  lover— in  bringing  her  down  with  malaria. 
If  the  doctors  were  right  in  their  final  diagnosis  of  her  case, 
I  am  glad  to  think  that  I,  too,  was  right  in  attributing  her 
illness  to  other  probable  causes.  Her  courage  under  her 
sufferings  was  superb  and  worthy  of  her  noble  written  words 
and  lofty  character  and  faith. 

KATE  DOUGLAS  WIGGIN.       . 

It  seems  appropriate  to  mention  an  incident  which  has  been 
most  gratifying  to  me  and  which,  I  feel  sure,  will  give  pleasure 
to  the  many  friends  of  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin,  who  cannot  fail 
to  recall  her  delightedly  as  a  temporary  resident  of  Los  Angeles 
and  as  a  generous  and  brilliant  contributor  to  its  early  social 
life.  Among  my  Christmas  remembrances,  a  volume  came  to 
me  bearing  this  inscription :  * '  To  my  dear  friend,  Mrs.  Sever- 
ance, who  set  my  feet  in  the  paths  traversed  by  this  little  book, 
and  who  kindled  the  best  in  me  by  giving  me  to  the  work 
which  my  heart  needed.  Kate  Douglas  Wiggin." 

The  book  was  the  first  number  in  a  series,  "The  Republic  of 
Childhood,"  and  was  written  in  collaboration  with  her  sister, 
Nora  A.  Smith,  who  was  her  hearty  and  capable  comrade  in 
the  first  free  kindergarten  in  San  Francisco,  established  by  Mrs. 


Cfte    90otj)et    of    Clubs 


Wiggin  and  Dr.  Adler.  This  was  the  since  famous  Silver  street 
kindergarten,  from  whose  training  classes  many  of  our  best 
kindergartners  have  graduated. 

Taking  this  gracious  proof  of  gratitude  as  my  text,  I  am 
tempted  to  add  a  few  facts  in  the  early  career  of  the  brilliant 
author— to  which  this  episode  refers— which  are  not  known 
outside  the  circle  of  her  kindred  and  her  Santa  Barbara  friends 
and  neighbors.  As  a  warrant  for  so  much  personality,  I  quote 
from  a  letter  of  hers  written  in  1896 :  ' '  Of  course  I  shall  always 
feel  honored  by  any  paragraph  or  article  which  you  may  write 
about  my  beginnings— or  endings." 

Mrs.  Wiggin 's  step-father,  Dr.  Bradbury,  brought  his  wife 
and  three  children  from  Maine  to  Santa  Barbara  in  the  sixties, 
or  early  seventies.  Kate,  the  eldest,  being  musical,  a  gift  which 
she  could  more  readily  utilize  at  her  age  than  those  which  have 
since  won  her  fame  and  fortune,  made  an  effort  to  teach  music 
in  the  Santa  Barbara  college,  of  which  our  son  Mark  Sibley 
was  then  president.  But  the  field  for  a  music  teacher  was 
limited  and  over-crowded,  and  her  success  was  not  equal  to  her 
merits — or  to  the  family  needs. 

Meantime  the  father's  death  came  suddenly  upon  the  family, 
leaving  them  encumbered  with  debts.  The  mother,  who  had 
been  a  petted  child— a  belle  in  her  circle— and  untrained  for 
any  self-supporting  work,  could  turn  to  nothing  remunerative 
save  the  dismal  resource  of  taking  haphazard  inmates  into 
the  pretty  home— an  experience  which  Mrs.  Wiggin  drew  upon 
in  her  clever  way  in  "Polly  Oliver's  Problem,"  as  those  who 
can  read  between  the  lines  suspect. 

Just  after  this  calamity  had  befallen  the  family,  Mr.  Sever- 
ance and  myself  were  visiting  in  Santa  Barbara  and  our  sons 
begged  me  to  see  Miss  Kate  and  advise  with  her  as  to  her 
future,  since  it  was  evident  that  she  was  to  be  the  bread-winner 
for  the  family,  for  the  time  at  least.  Needless  to  say  that  T 
was  most  happy  to  do  what  I  could  and  was  won  at  once  by  her 
grace  and  her  charm  as  well  as  by  her  resolute  looking  of  the 
stern  facts  full  in  the  face.  I  invited  her  to  pass  the  winter  with 


132          Cfie    Qpotfter    of    CIu60 

us  m  Los  Angeles  and  take  training  in  the  kindergarten  class  of 
Miss  Emma  Marwedel. 

This  is,  in  brief,  the  start  in  life  of  which  she  writes  so 
gratefully.  But  in  justice  to  the  brilliant  young  woman  I  must 
fill  it  out  somewhat  by  saying  how  abundantly  she  made  me 
her  debtor  during  her  stay  with  us,  by  her  charming  social 
gifts  and  her  generous  use  of  them;  how  she  brightened  the 
daily  life  and  shared  fully  its  interests— notably  in  our  son's 
book,  " Hammersmith,"  then  under  way,  and  the  chapters  of 
which  were  brought  into  the  family  circle  to  be  read  aloud, 
enjoyed  or  criticised,  as  the  case  might  be.  Miss  Kate  often 
accepted  the  role  of  reader,  until,  perchance,  the  pathos  of  a 
page  impelled  her  to  pass  the  manuscript  to  the  presumably 
less  emotional  sex. 

She  naturally  shone  as  the  bright  particular  star  of  Miss 
Marwedel's  graduating  class  and  made  the  kindergarten  sys- 
tem popular  at  sight.  While  in  Los  Angeles,  although  her 
friends  made  no  effort  at  proselyting,  she  accepted  the  sweet 
reasonableness  of  the  Unitarian  gospel  of  good  news,  as  set 
forth  by  the  Reverend  J.  D.  Wells,  of  Quincy,  Mass.,  and  made 
herself  most  useful  in  the  church  work  and  entertainments. 
She  acted  as  organist  of  its  embryo  choir,  composed  mainly 
of  the  members  of  the  Severance  family,  and  on  one  occasion 
she  rallied  the  town  and  played  havoc  with  its  dignitaries  in 
her  "Jarley  wax-works,"  which  were  unequalled,  unless  it  be 
by  some  of  the  presentations  made  by  Louise  Alcott  and 
Lucretia  Hale,  in  Boston. 

As  years  have  passed  by,  it  has  been  a  great  delight  to  some 
of  us  who  knew  her  then,  to  watch  the  development  of  the 
noble  womanliness  and  motherliness  of  her  gifted  nature, 
which  has  made  her  the  zealous  apostle  of  the  better  way  of 
education  for  the  multitude  who  will  reap  the  rich  harvest  of 
the  seed  which  she  has  so  abundantly  sown. 

Some  extracts  from  Mrs.  Wiggin's  letters  may  be  of  interest. 
Writing  regretfully  of  having  missed  seeing  me  in  New  York, 
she  says:  "The  only  way  in  which  we  can  ever  supply  'back 


of    Clu60         IBS 


numbers'  is  by  a  ten  hours'  talk."  From  England,  in  Septem- 
ber, 1890,  after  mentioning  Ireland  as  "this  disthressful  coun- 
try," she  reports  a  "ten  days'  charming  visit  with  the  Primate 
of  Ireland,  at  the  palace  of  Cumagh.  He  is  one  of  the  most  de- 
lightful of  Irishmen.  I  think  you  must  know  of  his  wife,  now 
dead,  who  wrote  beautiful  hymns— 'There  is  a  green  hill  far 
away,'  'The  Burial  of  Moses,'  and  others."  Of  her  daily 
routine  at  her  summer  home  in  Maine,  she  writes:  "I  rise  at 
six-thirty,  breakfast  at  seven,  work  until  one  (our  country 
dinner  hour),  chat  until  two  or  two-thirty,  pay  a  little  attention 
to  my  mother,  write  letters  for  an  hour— and  then  no  more  toil, 
generally  speaking,  for  that  day." 

Other  letters  show  how  much  joy  and  helpfulness  are  brought 
into  the  life  of  the  village  by  the  wise  initiative  of  Mrs.  Wiggin 
and  her  sister  and  their  helpful  companionship.  She  says  of  her 
Penelope :  "I  never  began  to  give  a  tenth  part  of  the  same  prep- 
aration for  my  other  books.  Of  course  with  my  omelette-souffle 
style,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  I'll  get  no  credit  for  knowledge 
or  preparation— so  little  do  they  show."  "The  illustrated 
editions  of  the  English  and  Scottish  Penelopes  have  been  arriv- 
ing for  the  last  six  weeks  and  are  most  exquisite  productions. 
As  they  will  cost  eight  shillings  apiece,  while  one  and 
six  pence  about  measures  my  value  to  the  public,  they  will 
probably  not  be  a  financial  success.  It  will  be  a  pleasure,  in- 
deed, to  look  at  the  pictures  on  rainy  days  and  see  my  people 
looking  exactly  as  they  should— under  all  conditions.  I  hope 
you  will  think  as  well  of  the  illustrations  as  I  do."  Again,  "If 
this  reads  somewhat  mechanically  and  does  not  contain  any 
effusive  measure  of  affection  or  longing,  it  may  perhaps  be 
accounted  for  by  the  fact  that  there  will  be  three  carbon  copies 
sent  to  three  intimate  friends,  widely  separated,  all  of  whom 
have  suffered  the  most  vicious  neglect  at  my  hands. ' ' 

' l  Thanks  for  your  charming  letter.  You  know  very  well  that 
I  value  your  praise  more  than  a  dozen  newspaper  criticisms. 
I  wish  you  were  here  today.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Rudyard  Kipling, 
Mr.  Howells  and  children,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Brander  Mathews, 


134         Cfte   8©ot6er    of 


Mrs..  Curtis  and  Stephen  Crane  take  supper."  Again  she 
speaks  of  her  autograph  table-cloth  embroidered  with  the  names 
of  her  winter  guests,  Mrs.  Burton  Harrison,  Ruth  MeEnery 
Stuart,  Mrs.  Dodge,  Laurence  Hutton,  Carl  Schurz,  Richard 
Harding  Davis,  Margaret  Merrington,  Henry  Irving,  Ellen 
Terry,  John  Drew,  John  Oliver  Hobbs,  Anna  Carey,  Emma 
Thursby,  St.  Gaudens,  Daniel  French  and  others,  a  brilliant 
and  cosmopolitan  company. 

MEMORIES  OF  EASTERN  PRESS  WOMEN. 

What  are  the  best  days  in  memory?      Those  in  which  we  met  a  com- 
panion who  was  truly  such. — Emerson. 

The  New  England  Woman's  Club  historian  alludes  to  the 
Cleveland  life  of  Madame  Severance,  "  where  her  book-review- 
ings  and  writings  had  brought  her  into  acquaintance  with  the 
scholarly  and  thoughtful  people  of  the  New  England  literary, 
philanthropic  and  newspaper  world.  Her  high  thought,  her 
broad  love  of  humanity  and  her  sorrow  at  its  wrongs,  her 
courage  to  stand  firm  under  fire,  led  to  a  beautiful  companion- 
ship with  them,  and  with  the  more  earnest  women  of  the  times, 
then  a  proscribed  company." 

Among  miscellaneous  reports  of  addresses  given  by  Madame 
Severance,  one  before  the  Woman's  Press  Club  of  Southern 
California,  in  1896,  contains  literary  memories  worth  pre- 
serving. 

"As  you  are  already  established  in  your  press  work  and  are 
becoming  leaders  and  ancestors  to  the  larger  groups  that  will 
follow  in  your  footsteps  and  in  the  paths  which  you  have 
aided,  by  so  many  hard  strokes,  to  make  smooth  and  easy  for 
their  feet,  and  as  you  do  not  need  my  help  in  those  ways,  I  turn 
to  my  own  experience  in  the  beginnings  of  woman's  connection 
with  the  press— so  many  years  ago. 

"I  recall  vividly  the  startling  report  which  our  friend,  Rich- 
ard Hildreth,  of  Boston,  made  to  me  about  1855,  of  his  remem- 
brance of  the  time  in  the  thirties  when  the  question  was  debated 
in  Boston,  as  to  whether  women  should  be  permitted  to  attend 


Cfte    $©ot{)er    of   Clu60         135 


the  first  course  of  lectures  on  literary  topics!  Even  at  that, 
time  he  seemed  to  me  an  octogenarian  to  be  able  to  recall  so 
distant  a  period  as  that  fact  represented.  But  he  was  then  a 
man  of  forty,  perhaps,  busy  with  his  work  as  one  of  our  earliest 
historians.  And  that  discussion  took  place  in  Boston  less  than 
sixty  years  ago !  Contrast  that  fact  with  our  present  freedom 
and  opportunities  and  say  if  we  have  not  cause  for  gratitude 
and  hope. 

"My  own  beginnings  with  the  pen  and  the  press  were  in  my 
young  wifehood  and  motherhood,  as  social  questions  and  needs 
forced  themselves  upon  me,  and  as  I  began  to  realize  that 
nothing  human  is  foreign  to  the  home  and  its  interests.  As  the 
years  went  on  and  my  experience  enlarged,  my  convictions  and 
my  ardor  grew,  as  no  doubt  has  been  true  with  all  the  elders 
among  you. 

"Let  me  bear  testimony  to  the  high  aims  and  noble  service 
of  the  army  of  women  writers  and  journalists  whom  it  has  been 
my  privilege  to  know  more  or  less  intimately.  I  was  too  late 
in  Boston  to  meet  Margaret  Fuller,  who  had  already  departed 
for  Italy,  but  she  had  made  a  brilliant  record  for  herself  and 
her  sex  in  journalism,  not  only  by  her  work  on  the  Tribune, 
but  also  by  her  unusual  conversational  gifts  and  rare  scholar- 
ship. I  met  many  disciples  and  pupils  of  hers  and  everywhere 
in  Boston  I  found  the  impress  of  her  life  and  helpfulness. 

"Among  those  who  carried  aloft  the  high  educational  and 
social  standards  of  *  Margaret/  as  she  was  fondly  called,  being 
to  them  the  only  Margaret  of  her  time,  was  Elizabeth  P. 
Peabody— our  'Saint  Elizabeth.'  You  all  know  of  her  life  and 
work  which  won  for  her  the  title  of  'Grandmother  of  Boston/ 
so  many  generations  of  its  best  families  had  been  set  on  the 
high  road  to  new  and  better  education  by  her  loving  hands 
and  great  brain. 

"Lydia  Maria  Child,  it  was  also  my  privilege  to  know,  from 
her  clever  and  helpful  work  on  the  New  York  Tribune  and  later 
from  her  books.  I  was  brought  into  association  with  her 
through  her  work  in  the  anti-slavery  cause  and  for  woman's 


136         Cfte   Sgotfter    of   Clubs 

proper  place  in  a  true  Democracy.  I  also  knew  and  admired 
the  work  of  Martha  Goddard,  a  brilliant  and  worthy  helpmate 
of  her  husband  on  the  Boston  Advertiser.  She  was  also 
widely  known  and  warmly  commended  for  her  able  correspond- 
ence to  the  Worcester  Spy. 

11  Sally  Joy  White  I  knew  well  in  her  early  struggles  to  win 
self-support  with  her  pen.  She  won  a  place  as  reporter  on  two 
of  the  leading  Boston  dailies,  the  forerunner  in  this  work  of 
Kate  Tannett  Woods,  of  Salem;  of  Lillian  Whiting;  of  Mrs. 
Merrill,  now  president  of  the  New  England  Press  Association, 
and  many  another  able  and  popular  writer  for  the  daily  and 
weekly  press. 

"  Among  the  editors  I  am  glad  to  have  known  and  to  be  able 
to  bear  testimony  to  the  admirable  work  of  such  women  as 
Mary  A.  Livermore,  Lucy  Stone  and  her  daughter,  Alice  Stone 
Blackwell,  a  born  journalist;  Clara  B.  Colby,  editor  of  the 
Woman's  Tribune;  Mary  E.  Booth,  of  Harper's  Bazaar;  Mary 
Mapes  Dodge,  in  her  unique  work  as  editor  of  St.  Nicholas- 
unrivalled  in  its  line. 

"  Grace  Greenwood  I  first  met  in  Washington,  where  she 
was  correspondent  for  the  New  York  Tribune.  Her  criticisms 
of  public  affairs  were  most  trenchant  and  able  and  were  eagerly 
read  by  Washington  officials,  and  her  spontaneous  and  ready 
wit  was  the  'town  talk'  of  the  time.  She  was  also  at  one  time 
editor  of  'The  Little  Pilgrim,'  published  in  Philadelphia,  one 
of  the  first  magazines  devoted  exclusively  to  the  children  and  a 
worthy  forerunner  of  'St.  Nicholas.' 

"Gail  Hamilton  I  first  met  at  a  reception  given  at  the  home 
of  her  uncle,  James  G.  Blaine,  in  Washington.  Here  she,  in 
her  brilliancy,  held  the  front  of  the  stage,  parrying  jokes  in  her 
unique  way  with  reverends,  officials  and  scholars.  She  was 
another  witty  and  forcible  newspaper  correspondent,  writing 
for  New  York  papers  and  for  'The  National  Era,'  of  Wash- 
ington, edited  by  Dr.  Bailey. 

"Later  we  met  her  in  Boston,  while  stopping  at  the  Belle- 
vue  Hotel  on  Beacon  street.  Here  we  aided  in  shielding  her 


Cfte    Q^ot&er    of    C 1 1160          137 

from  the  intrusion  of  the  curious  public  and  gave  her  the  title 
'Artful  Dodger/  on  account  of  her  skill  in  avoiding  visitors. 
She  even  evaded  an  informal  meeting  with  Louisa  Alcott  and 
Lucy  Larcom. 

"Lucy  Larcom  was  once  my  roommate  on  a  visit  to  our  com- 
mon friend,  Mrs.  Harriet  Minot  Pitman,  of  Providence,  R.  I. 
We  chatted  far  into  the  night  over  her  new  venture,  another 
children's  magazine,  'Young  Folks,'  and  she  was  much  gratified 
by  my  hope  and  faith  in  its  future. 

"I  have  mentioned  these  among  the  many  professional  journ- 
alists, as  I  might  mention  a  multitude  of  the  eminent  women 
writers,  that  I  may  bear  my  personal  testimony  to  their  ability, 
their  success  and  their  conscientious  aims  and  to  my  belief  that 
they  have  written  few  lines  which  they  will  wish,  or  need,  to 
blot. 

"With  this  noble  class  of  exemplars  before  you  and  with 
your  own  lofty  ideals,  success  must  come  to  you  in  time.  I  am 
supremely  happy  in  this  belief,  for  my  faith  in  woman's 
capacity  and  her  possibilities,  is  almost  boundless.  But  I  know 
too  well  my  tendency  to  make  a  pulpit  of  my  platform,  where- 
ever  it  may  be,  and  will  curb  the  impulse  to  preach  at  you, 
dear  friends.  But  one  thing  more,  I  will  venture:  do  not 
lower  your  ideals  to  a  supposed  necessity.  Appeal  to  the 
highest  and  best  in  the  human  being  and  you  will  find  it.  To 
me  there  seems  no  greater  business  fallacy  than  the  attempt 
of  the  ordinary  editor  and  writer  to  'write  down'  to  the  level 
of  the  least  educated  and  morally  developed.  To  do  so  is  to 
insult  man  and  his  Creator." 

CALIFORNIA  REMINISCENCES. 

First  in  time,  of  my  early  friends  and  sympathetic  co- 
workers  in  Los  Angeles,  was  Mrs.  Jeanne  C.  Carr,  of  Pasadena. 
She  and  her  husband,  Professor  Carr,  have  left  a  joint  witness 
to  their  faith  in  the  higher  education  of  woman,  by  securing 
the  opening  to  women  of  the  colleges,  from  Vermont  to  Cali- 


138         Cfte   Sigotfjer    of   Clubs 

fornia,  in  which  they  were,  at  some  time,  teachers.  Of  her 
share  in  the  educational  work  in  this  state,  too  much  cannot 
be  said.  She  has  left  a  strong  testimony  to  her  love  of  nature 
and  her  knowledge  of  plant  life  and  of  botany,  in  the  noted 
home  place  on  Orange  Avenue,  in  Pasadena,  now  known  as  the 
1 1 Reed"  place. 

Fortunately  for  us,  the  early  friendship  with  our  valued 
Ohio  neighbors,  Senator  J.  P.  Jones  and  family,  was  renewed 
here  and  has  been  a  constant  pleasure  for  many  years.  We 
found  the  senator,  as  of  old,  sturdy,  upright  and  broad-minded 
and  his  wife  always  charming  and  sympathetic.  We  have  also 
had  a  very  genuine  and  cordial  acquaintance  with  the  sisters 
of  the  senator,  Mrs.  Gorham,  Mrs.  Lester  and  Mrs.  Hamilton, 
and  with  the  loyal  son,  Roy,  and  his  wife,  one  of  our  Friday 
Morning  Club  presidents.  It  was  an  especial  delight  to  see 
the  dear  aged  mother  of  Senator  Jones,  who  spent  her  last  days 
as  an  honored  member  of  the  family,  beautifully  housed  in  her 
own  suite  of  rooms  and  surrounded  by  every  comfort  and 
luxury. 

Among  the  earliest  neighbors  and  friends  with  whom  my 
associations  have  been  most  pleasant  are  Mrs.  Margaret  Collier 
Graham,  Mrs.  B.  C.  Whiting  and  Mrs.  H.  T.  Lee,  with  their 
families. 

Soon  after  our  arrival  in  Los  Angeles,  our  Cleveland  and 
Washington  friends,  the  Sayles-Browns,  settled  here.  They 
have  been  our  faithful  friends  until  now— when  only  the  de- 
voted daughter  of  the  family  is  left.  She  is  a  worthy  rep- 
resentative of  her  parents  and  is  highly  valued  by  all  who 
share  her  friendship  and  know  her  large-mindedness  and  gen- 
erous service  to  all  best  causes. 

I  have  also  gained  and  enjoyed  the  friendship  of  Dr.  Eli  Fay 
and  his  wife,  Harriet  K.  Fay.  Dr.  Fay  was  for  many  years 
the  able  pastor  of  Unity  church.  He  resigned  a  pastorate  of 
sixteen  years  in  England  on  hearing  of  the  vacancy  here, 
made  by  the  retirement  of  Rev.  John  D.  Wells.  The  doctor 
was  a  scholar  and  a  preacher  of  remarkable  vigor  and  ability, 


Cfte    0@ot6er    of    Clu60          139 

and  won  a  large  following  here.  He  was  helped  greatly  in  his 
work  by  the  trained  intellect  and  true  sympathy  of  his  wife. 

Mrs.  Rebecca  Buffum  Spring  was  a  valued  acquaintance  of 
ours  in  the  east,  where  she  was  well  known  for  her  intellectual 
and  philanthropic  qualities.  Her  husband,  Marcus  Spring, 
was  a  charming  gentleman  and  a  proverb  for  integrity,  as  a  man 
of  business.  His  business  interests  prospered,  nevertheless— or 
because  of  this,  I  should  say.  His  fortune  was  spent  generously 
to  further  anti-slavery,  suffrage,  peace,  and  in  many  other 
beautiful  ways,  as  in  taking  Margaret  Fuller  abroad  with  his 
family  and  giving  her  a  tour  of  Southern  Europe.  This  led  to 
her  remaining  in  Italy  and  her  marriage  to  Count  Ossoli,  who 
with  their  child  and  his  gifted  wife,  was  lost  off  the  shore  of 
Long  Island. 

Mrs.  Spring  cherishes  the  letter  written  by  her  friend  from 
Gibraltar  at  the  outset  of  this  return  voyage  and  sent  by  a 
speedier  steamer,  as  the  last  word  ever  written  by  this  eminent 
woman. 

Mrs.  Spring,  now  in  her  ninety-fifth  year,  is  a  very  remark- 
able woman  herself,  not  only  in  her  enjoyable  reminiscences, 
but  in  the  vivacity  which  enlivens  all  her  chat,  and  in  a  memory 
which  retains  poems  of  great  length.  These  she  repeats  ver- 
batim, without  a  lapse,  to  the  entertainment  and  surprise  of 
her  listeners.  She  appeared  on  a  late  occasion  as  the  '  *  leading 
lady"  in  a  lively  little  play  written  for  one  of  her  birthdays  by 
her  talented  daughter,  Jeannie  Peet,  who  is  both  a  sculptor  and 
a  poet. 

Among  other  faithful  friends,  I  can  only  mention  the  earliest, 
Mrs.  Charlotte  LeMoyne  Wills,  daughter  of  the  Mr.  LeMoyne, 
of  French  birth,  who  was  the  earnest  advocate  of  cremation, 
and  who  established  the  first  crematory  in  this  country,  in 
Washington,  Penn.  We  had  been  introduced  by  Grace  Green- 
wood, in  Washington,  where  Mr.  Wills  had  cases  in  court. 
The  family  removed  to  Los  Angeles  a  few  years  after  our 
coming,  and  we  soon  formed  a  close  personal  acquaintance  and 
friendship. 


140         C  ft  e    99  o  t  ft  e  r    of    Clubs 


Mrs.  Wills  and  her  family  have  been  active  in  many  of  the 
philanthropic  affairs  of  the  city  and  a  large  factor  in  the 
well-being  of  Los  Angeles.  Their  progressiveness  is  shown 
by  the  fact,  among  many  other  similar  acts,  that  in  the  early 
period  of  American  life  in  this  city,  they  chose  as  the  architect 
for  the  handsome  home  they  built  here,  the  daughter  of  Dr. 
William  Channing— the  grand-daughter  of  the  eminent  William 
Ellery  Channing— then  living  with  her  family  in  Pasadena. 

Mrs.  Wills  and  her  daughter,  Frances,  were  deeply  and 
financially  interested  in  the  founding  of  the  Friday  Morning 
Club.  They  were  also  active  and  valiant  helpers  in  the  early 
efforts  to  establish  a  kindergarten. 

Mrs.  Wills  is  one  of  our  eminent  "Ancients  and  Honorables" 
—a  woman  of  independent  thought,  of  great  force  of  character, 
tempered  by  the  vivacity  of  her  French  inheritance,  which 
keeps  her  mentally  young  and  fresh,  at  the  age  of  eighty. 

The  love  and  devotion  of  my  early  club  friends  of  the  New 
England  Woman's  Club  seem  to  have  been  bequeathed  to  their 
loyal  successors  on  the  western  coast— a  list  too  long  for  quot- 
ing, but  it  includes  the  presidents  of  the  Friday  Morning  Club. 
the  lesser  officers  and  the  early  members.  Among  the  many 
dear,  devoted  friends  of  early  club  life  here,  are  Mrs.  C.  L. 
Osgood  and  Miss  Margaret  M.  Fette.  Mrs.  Osgood  was  first 
vice-president  of  the  Friday  Morning  Club,  and  then  my  suc- 
cessor in  the  presidency,  an  office  which  she  filled  with  great 
acceptance  as  a  loving,  lovable  and  tactful  woman. 

Miss  Fette  is  an  admirable  organizer,  capable  and  thorough 
in  her  own  special  duty  and  generous  in  taking  up  the  neglected 
work  of  others.  She  is  an  invaluable  helper  in  church  work 
and  in  other  public  service.  Mrs.  Kate  Tupper  Galpin  and 
Reverend  Eliza  Tupper  Wilkes  have  been  for  years  inspiring 
friends  and  co-workers  in  every  effort  for  the  good  of  humanity. 
Rare  women,  gifted  beyond  the  ordinary  and  devoting  every 
talent  to  the  general  good,  their  friendship  has  been  one  of  the 
compensations  of  life.  Mrs.  W.  A.  Spalding  is  another  of  the 
early  friends  and  fellow-workers  whom  it  has  been  my  privi- 


Cfie    Sgotfcet    of    C I  u  60         141 


lege  to  know.  Among  my  most  enjoyable  acquaintances  are 
Mrs.  Ella  H.  Enderlein,  who  was  one  of  the  secretaries  of 
the  early  clubs  and  has  since  been  intimately  associated  with 
the  Friday  Morning  Club,  and  her  brilliant  sister,  Mrs.  Theo- 
dosia  B.  Shepherd,  the  Burbank  of  her  sex.  Mrs.  Kate  Hagan 
and  her  gifted  daughter,  Jennie,  have  also  been  sympathetic 
and  helpful  friends. 

Mrs.  Clara  B.  Capen,  one  of  the  early  supporters  of  the 
Woman's  Exchange;  Mrs.  Gertrude  B.  Eastman,  helpful  in  the 
formation  of  early  clubs  and  in  bringing  the  Biennial  to  Los 
Angeles;  and  Mrs.  J.  E.  Cowles,  a  leader  in  State  and  General 
Federation  circles,  have  been  among  my  valued  friends  and 
colleagues  in  club  life.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  T.  W.  Heineman  are  es- 
teemed later  friends. 

But  time  fails  me  to  call  the  roll  of  the  dear  women  who 
have  gratefully  over-rated  my  cluB  service,  overlooked  my 
personal  shortcomings  and  won  my  sincerest  love. 

Hail  also,  to  the  coming  singers, 
Hail,  to  the  brave  light-bringers! 
Forward  I  reach  and  share 
All  that  they  sing,  and  dare. 
What  matters  I,  or  they,— 
Mine,  or  another  day,— 
So  the  right  word  b«  said, 
And  life  the  gweeter  made. 


VIII. 


EXTRACTS   FROM    LETTERS    WRITTEN    TO    MADAME 

SEVERANCE. 

"I  sometimes  think  that  even  today  more  can  be  learned  of  a  man 
from  the  letters  he  receives  than  from  the  things  at  which  he  laughs — 
once  considered  the  test."— Eliza  E.  Pennell  (apropos  of  her  uncle, 
Charles  G.  Leland,  otherwise  "Hans  Breitman. ") 

SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY. 

"San  Francisco,  August  29, 1890.  Mrs.  Sargent  and  I  attend- 
ed a  meeting  of  the  chairmen  of  the  twenty  voting  precincts 
in  this— 24th  Assembly  district— and  heard  each  tell  what 
and  how  she  had  done.  It  was  better  than  an  old  fashioned 
love  feast." 

"Rochester,  N.  Y.,  March  30,  1900.  My  dear  Pioneer 
Friend,  it  was  good  of  you,  away  off  there  in  your  sunny 
orange  grove,  to  think  of  me  and  our  good  cause  on  Feb.  15, 
when  all  were  assembled  in  Lafayette  Opera  house,  Washing- 
ton, to  celebrate  my  eightieth  birthday.  Among  all  the  beau- 
tiful words  that  have  come  to  me,  none  is  more  grateful  to  me 
than  this  sweet  letter  of  yours.  I  see  by  the  papers  that  you, 
too,  are  passing  over  your  fourth  score  into  the  fifth.  I  had 
forgotten  we  were  so  near  of  an  age.  Well,  my  dear,  it  is  a 
grand  and  heroic  work  we  have  done  through  all  these  more 
than  fifty  years,  since  the  day  you  started  out  in  Ohio.  I  can 
never  forget  that  beautiful  home  of  yours  on  Euclid  Avenue, 
where  so  many  friends  have  met.  There  were  Fanny  Gage, 
Mrs.  Rose,  Antoinette  Brown,  Lucy  Stone,  and  Abby  Kelly,— 
a  simple  host  to  be  sure,  but  as  grand  women  as  any  who 
have  come  to  the  front  in  these  later  days.  Isn't  it  strange, 
my  dear,  that  the  young  editors  and  orators  cannot  get  rid 
of  the  idea  that  our  pioneer  women  were  coarse,  mannish,  ill- 

142 


MRS  REBECCA  SPRING 
MADAME  SEVERANCE  SUSAN  B.  ANTHONY 


€  Ij  C     €13  0  t  ft  C  t     Of     C  I  U  b  9  143 


dressed  and  ill-mannered?  I  wish  we  had  some  kind  of  flying 
machine,  or  better  still,  some  telegraphic  conveyance,  so  that 
I  could  slip  over  to  that  lovely  cottage  of  yours  this  spring 
morning  and  we  could  chat  over  all  the  old  friends  of  those 
days— and  the  new  ones  of  these.  With  pleasant  memories 
and  best  wishes  to  all  your  family,  I  thank  you  again  for  the 
lovely  word  of  greeting,  and  am,  very  sincerely  your  friend/7 

"Mar.  7,  1901.  Your  letter  was  just  in  time  to  greet  me  on 
my  eighty-first  birthday.  I  am  glad  you  liked  the  calendar. 
It  served  for  me  to  send  around  as  a  New  Year's  gift.  Those 
early  days  are  splendid  to  live  over.  Mrs.  Stearns  is  a  real, 
live  woman  and  I  am  glad  that  she  has  settled  among  you.  I 
believe  it  is  the  first  time  you  have  had  suffrage  headquarters 
in  Los  Angeles.  I  am  glad  you  have  taken  the  presidency,  pro 
tern,  and  hope  you  will  stick  to  it.  Nothing  is  so  bad  as  for 
us  older  people  to  retire  from  active  work  altogether.  Nom- 
inally, I  am  out  of  office,  but  there  are  more  letters  coming 
every  day  than  I  can  possibly  answer. 

"I  do  not  expect  anything  from  a  government  that  ignores 
one  half  of  its  own  people.  It  will  do  whatever  comes  in  its 
way  that  is  unconstitutional.  The  first  thing  for  us  to  do  is 
to  make  the  men  feel  the  enormity  of  their  crime  against 
women.  If  we  fail  in  that,  we  may  despair  of  all  the  rest.  'If 
ye  love  not  those  whom  ye  have  seen,  how  can  ye  love  those 
whom  ye  have  not  seen?'  They  are  doing  for  the  men  of 
Hawaii,  Porto  Rico,  Cuba  and  the  Philippines  a  great  deal 
more  than  they  have  done  for  us,  and  I  have  no  sympathy  to 
waste  on  those  half-civilized  men— while  we  are  without  the 
rights  of  citizens  at  home.  *  *  *  * 

LUCY  STONE. 

July,  1882.  I  think  of  you  in  the  beautiful  Berkshire  hills 
and  hope  you  will  have  a  good  time.  These  are  the  ' '  hills  from 
whence  come  my  help." 

"March,  1883.    There  is  great  need  of  a  hostess  at  the  office. 


144          Cfte    Qgotftet    of    CIit60 


People  come  in  and  want  to  talk  to  some  one.  You  know  Mrs. 
Howe  was  to  have  been  at  the  office,  but  she  is  hurt.  Now  I 
should  like  it  very  much  if  your  pleasant  face  could  be  there 
part  of  one  day  during  the  week.  *  *  *  *  Alas,  alas!  the  state 
house  votes  us  down  again!  Shame  on  the  senators!  God 
forgive  them— if  He  can!" 

ELIZABETH  CADY  STANTON. 

Madame  Severance  has  said:  "My  own  first  meeting  with 
Mrs.  Stanton  and  other  early  leaders  of  the  suffrage  move- 
ment was  at  a  great  gathering,  1852,  at  Syracuse,  N.  Y.  A 
most  impressive  assembly  it  was  as  represented  on  the  plat- 
form. I  sat  thrilled  and  spellbound  under  their  eloquence  and 
enthusiasm— a  new  heaven  and  new  earth  seemed  opened  be- 
fore me,  and  I  marked  these  as  'white  days7  in  my  life-cal- 
endar, predecessors  of  many  which  followed  and  which  chang- 
ed the  current  of  my  longings  and  plans  for  a  literary  life 
into  the  channel  of  the  Golden  Rule,  as  leading  toward  social 
and  civic  justice  and  peace." 

"My  last  meeting  with  Mrs.  Stanton  was  in  her  apartments 
in  New  York  City,  in  1893.  I  found  her  in  her  usual  quaint 
and  careful  costume,  seated  at  her  desk,  pen  in  hand,  looking 
a  modern  sybil  and  as  strong  and  unconquerable  in  spirit  as  in 
her  earlier  years." 

Madame  Severance  carried  on  a  long  correspondence  with 
Mrs.  Stanton.  In  later  years  this  related  largely  to  the  "Wo- 
man's Bible"  which  she  published.  Of  this  book  Mrs.  Stanton 
writes:  "I  have  endeavored  by  showing  the  absurdities  of  the 
invidious  distinctions  of  sex  in  the  Pentateuch,  to  show 
women  how  this  book  emanated  from  the  brain  of  men  without 
any  divine  inspiration.  'Thus  saith  the  Lord'  has  made  woman 
a. victim  under  all  religions. 

"I  ordered  six  copies  of  Part  I  of  the  Woman's  Bible  sent 
to  you,  but  the  publishers  write  me  that  there  is  not  one  left" 

"I  thought  today,  I  would  report  to  you  of  my  doings.     I 


Cfte    9§ot6er    of    CIu60          145 


am  busy  on  Part  II  of  the  Woman's  Bible.    The  object  of  the 
book  is  to  lift  women  out  of  their  superstitions. 

"The  celebration  of  my  eightieth  birthday  has  been  a  great 
sweep."  Two  years  later  she  writes:  "In  addition  to  books, 
I  am  writing  leaflets,  trying  to  clean  up  our  villages  and  cities. 
Nothing  disfigures  our  streets  more  than  papers  flying  in  all 
directions.  Although  I  shall  be  eighty-two  in  November,  I 
work  five  hours  every  day  for  the  public  good." 

DR.  MARIA  ZAKRZEWSKA. 

The  largest  budget  of  Madame  Severance's  correspondence, 
outside  of  that  of  her  family  and  near  relatives,  is  that  of  Dr. 
Marie  Zakrzewska,  who  was  a  physician  in  the  New  England 
Hospital  for  Women  and  Children,  located  on  Boston  High- 
lands. 

Madame  Severance  describes  the  doctor  as  a  woman  of  rare 
ability,  an  independent  thinker  and  a  student  of  the  advanced 
German  philosophy.  She  had  come  to  this  country  alone,  at 
the  age  of  twenty,  to  secure  the  medical  degree  then  denied  to 
women  in  her  own  country.  She  applied  to  Dr.  Elizabeth 
Blackwell,  in  New  York,  who  sent  her  to  Mrs.  Severance,  in 
Cleveland,  where  the  medical  college  had  been  opened  to 
women.  The  Severance  family  felt  a  warm  friendship  for  the 
brave  young  woman.  After  their  removal  to  Boston  she  vis- 
ited them  and  became  connected  with  the  Female  Medical  Col- 
lege, then  striving  for  existence,  and  was  interested  with  Mrs. 
Severance  and  other  earnest  women,  in  organizing  and  estab- 
lishing the  Hospital  for  Women  and  Children,  in  Boston. 

This  preface  explains  the  doctor's  references  and  her  grati- 
tude, as  shown  in  her  letters.  The  first  letters  to  Madame 
Severance  in  California  were  mainly  in  reference  to  club  life 
in  Boston  and  the  progress  of  the  hospital.  After  the  death  of 
Mr.  Severance  and  the  return  of  Madame  Severance  from  an 
Eastern  trip,  the  doctor  writes:  "Again  you  have  put  the  con- 
tinent between  yourself  and  your  eastern  friends,  leaving  us 
yearning  for  opinions  and  advice  upon  many  points.  It  is  our 


146         Cfte    Sfijotfter    of 


hope  that  your  usefulness  in  Los  Angeles  will  compensate  you 
by  bringing  kind  and  appreciative  friends  near  you  to  make 
your  life  there  enjoyable.  This  morning  came  the  first  snow- 
fall, covering  field  and  forest  and  spreading  peace  and  rest, 
not  only  out  of  doors,  but  also  in  the  souls  of  men.  It  inspires 
me  to  the  worship  of  absent  friends  and  you  are  the  first  to 
whom  I  turn. 

"Do  we  love  less  strongly  at  sixty-four  than  at  twenty-four? 
It  seems  to  me  that  we  love  more  strongly  as  the  years  go  on. 
We  cling,  after  all,  to  those  we  have  known  for  many  years. 
even  if  the  habit  to  adapt  us  to  each  other  has  been  prevented 
by  separation.  In  my  case  there  is  mingled  with  this  personal 
appreciation  toward  you  the  spirit  of  gratitude  for  favors  re- 
ceived when  young  and  in  need." 

After  bemoaning  various  differences  between  workers,  she 
adds  :  '  *  Ah  me,  there  are  so  many  ways  to  Rome  !  And  surely 
all  these  young  and  enthusiastic  workers  must,  as  a  conse- 
quence of  evolution,  walk  their  different  ways,  as  we  did  ours, 
from  the  generation  before  us." 

In  her  Christmas  letter  of  1894,  she  writes  warmly  of 
Madame  Severance's  eastern  children  and  grandchildren  and 
of  the  arrival  of  the  dear  ones  from  Boston,  then  enroute  to 
California,  "May  joy  and  blessedness  be  yours  and  theirs  and 
many  more  seasons  be  in  store  for  you!"  She  comforts  herself 
by  going  to  her  picture  case  and  "seeing  a  vision  of  you  sit- 
ting in  the  shade  of  that  beautiful  climbing  ivy,—  but  I  saw 
much  more  than  all  this." 

In  a  letter  of  1895,  in  answer  to  some  comments  upon  the 
industrial  situation,  she  says:  "This  sociological  problem  will 
have  to  be  fought  by  and  for  the  next  generation,  for  the  ten- 
dency to  provide  higher  education,  greater  development  of 
mind  and  consequently  of  all  that  is  elevating,  even  to  lux- 
uries in  environment,  is  not  counterbalanced  by  providing 
the  means  to  gratify  these  desires—  desires  fostered  by  even 
the  lowest  grades  of  the  public  schools.  It  is  not  gold,  nor  sil- 
ver, nor  tariff,  nor  free  trade,  which  will  help  us;  it  is  the 
great  economic  question  of  distribution,  Where  must  we  be- 


Cfie    ®ot6et    of   Clu60         147 


gin  to  reform?  We  must  raise  the  price  of  labor;  we  must 
secure  a  mode  of  living  to  the  humblest  workers,  worthy  of  a 
human  being  and  worthy  the  reputation  of  our  wealthy  land. 
In  a  word,  we  must  be  willing  to  share  all  profits  in  a  way  to 
permit  neither  millionaires  nor  beggars.  I  could  write  vol- 
umes on  this  subject,  but  can  only  tell  you  now  that  I  am  your 
faithful  and  loving  friend,  forever  and  forever."  This  was 
the  topic  of  much  of  the  correspondence.  But  always,  also, 
the  tender  tribute  followed,  as,  "Now  for  a  few  words  of  your- 
self—to me  you  are  a  wonderful  woman— when  I  think  back 
to  how  faithful  you  have  always  been  to  the  improvement  of 
yourself  and  of  women  in  general.  How,  amidst  sorrow,  care, 
anxiety  and  disappointment,  you  have  kept  your  interest  in 
humanity  and  especially  in  women,  unselfishly  and  with  an 
evenness  of  spirit  which  is  charming.  This  is  what  keeps  you 
alive  and  strengthens  you  in  body  and  in  spirit.  Please  do  not 
take  this  as  flattery.  It  is  the  sincere  truth,  directly  from 
my  heart,  and  often  spoken  to  our  friends,  who  agree  with 
me  fully.  Miss  Sprague  is  often  troubled  lest  your  absence 
from  Boston  deprive  you  of  the  appreciation  due  to  you  in  this 
locality." 

Writing  in  1896  of  a  visit  to  Dr.  Elizabeth  Blackwell,  who 
had  returned  to  her  home  in  England,  she  says :  ' '  On  'the  12th 
of  January  we  drank  to  your  health,  dear  friend,  in  a  cup  of 
tea,  and  had  continual  chats  on  the  earlier  years  of  our  work 
and  our  aspirations.  The  doctor  celebrated  her  seventy-fifth 
birthday  on  July  8th."  In  1897,  she  writes:  "Dear  Mrs.  S., 
friend  of  many  years,  how  I  wish  that  I  might  take  wings  and 
fly  across  the  continent,  if  only  to  say  my  *  Happy  New  Year' 
to  you !  Alas,  I  would  like  to  say  so  much  more,  which  to  put 
upon  paper  seems  sacrilege.  How  much  there  is  in  the  sight 
of  a  beloved  face,  the  warm  pressure  of  a  hand !  Should  I  put 
down  here  how  much  we  long  to  see  you  again  in  our  club, 
you  would  not,  nay,  you  could  not  believe  it.  What  a  change 
is  going  on  all  about  us!  What  progress  in  woman's  activity! 
Often  when  I  think  of  old  times  and  how  you  trembled  when, 
as  the  first  woman,  you  lectured  before  a  lyceum  in  Cleveland, 


148         C6e    agot&er    of    Clu6» 


I  am  looked  upon  as  a  centenarian— as  belonging  to  a  far-off 
age.  Many  of  the  younger  members  of  our  club  ask  questions 
about  you  and  your  portraits  in  the  club  parlors." 

Again  in  1897:  "Mrs.  W.  (after  a  visit  to  Los  Angeles) 
speaks  of  you  with  such  enthusiasm,  of  your  influence  upon  all 
associated  with  you  in  humanitarian  efforts.  You  are  in  your 
sphere,  a  *  pioneer  among  pioneers.'  When  I  hear  so  many  speak 
of  the  pleasure  they  have  had  in  seeing  you  in  your  idyllic 
home,  I  cease  wishing  you  on  this  side  of  American  civilization. 
How  short  life  is !  I  don't  fear  death,  but  I  like  to  live.  It  would 
be  stupid  vanity  to  say  that  we  older  ones  exercise  any  real 
influence.  We  are  honored  and  often  revered,  but  after  that, 
set  aside  respectfully.  That  is  as  it  should  be,— the  world 
must  remain  young." 

Planning  later  to  come  to  Los  Angeles,  with  her  devoted 
friend,  Miss  Julia  Sprague,  and  their  faithful  maid,  Cornelia, 
she  writes:  "That  we  wish  to  see  you  once  more  in  this  beau- 
tiful world,  I  need  not  assure  you.  You  must  keep  yourself 
well  not  to  disappoint  us  in  this  last  of  our  ambitious  aims. 
*****  The  fact  that  you  are  living  among  the  roses  under 
a  balmy  sky,  which  renders  you  active  in  spite  of  years,  is  an 
example  and  a  tonic  to  your  distant  friends.  Surrounded  as 
you  are  by  children  and  grandchildren,  by  friends  and  co- 
workers,  years  count  for  very  little  in  themselves." 

Of  the  taking  of  the  Philippines  she  writes:  "This  abom- 
inable and  horrible  war !  The  United  States  has  nothing  to  do 
in  the  Orient.  The  less  we  talk  to  the  czar  and  the  less  fingers 
we  put  in  his  political  pie,  the  wiser  for  us  and  the  more  dig- 
nified. We  have  so  many  faults  to  correct  here,  that  Russia 
may  be  called  far  ahead  of  us,  even  in  its  prison  management." 
And  she  goes  on  to  cite  the  barbarities  still  practised  in  our 
own  prisons.  Speaking  of  her  large  practice  in  the  hospital 
and  in  the  best  of  families,  she  says:  "You  will  hardly  believe 
it  when  I  tell  you  that  it  is  twice  as  hard  to  dissuade  people 
from  having  an  operation  as  it  is  to  persuade  them  to  it." 

Again,  "I  can  hardly  express  my  indignation  over  the  short- 
sightedness of  the  politicians  and  the  lack  of  common  sense 
of  the  people.  Even  now  that  the  war  is  over,  I  cannot  feet  en- 


Cfie    £©otf)et    of    Clu60          149 


thusiastic,  because  of  the  consequences  among  the  young  fel- 
lows who  were  foolish  enough  to  enjoy  going  to  fight.  And 
these  consequences  will  be  felt  for  many  years  to  come,  for  the 
physical  suffering  is  small  compared  with  the  moral,  and  the 
vicious  iniquities  which  have  taken  root  in  the  form  of  animal 
pleasures  when  in  camps  and  the  excitements  of  animal 
strength  on  the  battlefield."  And  she  adds  that  "a  third 
party  must  arise  which  will  bear  on  its  banner:  'For  progres- 
sive Humanity,  Honor  and  Honesty."  And  through  all  this 
serious  chat  glows  the  love  she  bears  "the  beloved  friend," 
and  her  joy  in  her  sympathy  and  her  wonderful  activity.  Af- 
ter her  visit  to  Los  Angeles,  she  writes  of  her  delight  in  find- 
ing Madame  Severance  "as  full  of  hopes  and  plans  as  in  her 
younger  days." 


JULIA  A.  SPRAGUE. 

"Jamaica  Plain.  It  is  so  pleasant  to  have  a  greeting  from  you 
on  the  Pacific  Coast,  and  you  are  so  full  of  life  and  energy  and 
interest  in  all  living  humans  that  you  are  a  kind  of  spur,  when 
one  feels  a  little  drooping.  How  I  wish  you  could  have  been  at 
the  Club  when  the  veterans  gathered  in  October,  a  small  but 
worthy  band!  I  suppose  you  have  been  told  who  were  there, 
so  I  will  not  repeat,  as  the  years  are  bringing  infirmities  of 
various  kinds  to  me.  I  find  I  am  obliged  to  withdraw  more 
and  more  from  active  participation,  but  my  love  for  the  New 
England  Woman's  Club  increases.  I  want  you  to  read  my 
verses  in  the  "Hospital  Souvenir,"  and  I  want  you  to  like 
them,— not  because  they  are  great,  not  at  all,— but  because 
they  are  heartfelt.  I  think  as  activity  diminishes  we  cling  to 
the  pleasures  of  the  past  still  more.  Among  those  who,  by 
spirit,  are  associated  with  my  past,  how  vividly  you.  stand 
out  in  prominence,  from  the  time  when  I  first  saw  you  on  a 
lyceum  platform,  down  to  the  pleasant  day  on  York  Harbor 
paizza,  in  our  'Roaring  Rock'  cottage!  With  loving  remem- 
brance. ' ' 


150         Cfte   fi@ot6er    of 


SOPHIA  TOWNSEND. 

(Teacher  of  Greek,  and  called  "our  beautiful  Greek"  in  the 
New  England  Woman's  Club.) 

"Newport,  July  18,  1873.  How  delightful  the  thought  of 
being  with  you  for  one  whole  week!  A  thousand  thanks.  I 
only  thought  of  getting  a  boarding  place  near  you.  And  sweet 
Ellen  Lee  to  be  there,  too,— nothing  could  be  better!  As  to 
'crowding/  I  should  be  willing  to  'be  put  into  a  pint  cup  and 
have  the  cover  put  on'  for  the  sake  of  feeling  myself  in  the 
presence  of  such  souls.  Kindest  love  to  your  daughter  and 
to  Mr.  Severance— the  man  of  cheer  and  pleasantness.  Hull 
will  suit  me  as  well  as  Newport.  I  care  more  for  people  than 
for  things." 

ABBY  GOULD  WOOLSON. 

Abby  Gould  Woolson,  author  of  the  lively  record  of  the 
Dress  Committee  of  the  New  England  Woman's  Club,  in  the 
early  seventies,  and  now  president  of  the  Castilian  club  of 
Cambridge  and  vice-president  of  the  New  England  Woman's 
Club,  writes  of  the  claim  for  Madame  Severance  as  founder 
of  that  club:  "I  had  the  impression  that  no  one  disputed  it," 
and  she  adds,  "I  have  been  ashamed  of  my  country  from  the 
day  that  she  entered  upon  these  unnecessary,  hypocritical  and 
wicked  wars  with  Spain  and  the  poor  Philippinos.  I  rejoice 
in  any  success  of  the  latter  in  their  struggle  for  freedom  from 
a  foreign  oppression." 

Of  the  Peace  Memorial,  in  June,  1899,  she  writes:  "I  can 
not  conceive  how  any  intelligent,  right-minded  woman  could 
fail  to  give  the  most  cordial  support  to  your  efforts  on  behalf 
of  peace.  They  have  my  heartiest  sympathy." 

MADAME  HELENA  MODJESKA, 

"How  very  kind  of  you  to  have  written  that  charming  letter 
to  me!  Do  I  deserve  it?  I  am  sure  I  never  have  done  much 
good  in  this  world;  all  that  I  do  is  my  pleasure— and  there  is 


Cfte    Qiot&er    of    Clu60          i5i 

no  merit  in  that.  Nevertheless,  I  thank  you  very  much  and 
from  all  my  heart,  for  your  past  kindness  to  me.  As  for  me, 
work  is  my  element  and  I  feel  well  only  when  I  am  very  busy. 
Hoping  you  will  return  to  us  well  and  strong,  I  recommend 
myself  to  your  heart.  With  Mr.  Chlaponsky's  deep  respects, 
Yours  very  sincerely." 

"Arden,  July  10,  1899.  I  cannot  tell  you,  dear  Mrs.  Sever- 
ance, how  dreadfully  sorry  I  am  not  to  be  able  to  move  from 
home.  I  have  looked  forward  to  your  reception  with  a  great 
deal  of  joy,  and  it  is  difficult  to  express  how  disappointed  I  am. 
Are  you  very  angry  with  me  ?  Please  forgive  me  for  this  time, 
for  I  am  feeling  very  unhappy  about  the  unfortunate  occur- 
rence. " 

"August  2,  1903.  Believe  me  that  your  kindness  to  me  is 
highly  appreciated,  as  no  one  in  this  country  has  given  me 
more  proofs  of  true  friendship  and  sacrifice  than  you.  It  is 
such  a  comfort  to  know  that  you  sometimes  think  of  me.  With 
repeated  thanks  and  many  good  wishes,  I  am,  most  sincerely 
yours." 

"Arden,  Jan.  8,  1904.  Your  dear  letter  received  and  I  thank 
you  most  heartily  for  your  good  wishes.  I  should  have  sent 
my  New  Year's  wishes  to  you,  but  they  could  not  have  reached 
you  in  time,  as  nearly  all  of  our  men  took  a  vacation  at  that 
time  and  there  was  no  mail  for  a  week.  We  live  several  miles 
from  the  nearest  station.  *  *  *  Nothing  is  more  sympathetic 
to  me  than  an  institution  for  children's  education.  So  much 
the  more  as  I  now  have  a  kindergarten  at  home.  My  nephew's 
wife,  who  recently  died  in  Pasadena,  left  to  my  care  two  girls. 
I  told  you  I  was  going  to  teach  and  I  am  teaching,— not  the 
art  of  acting,  it  is  true,  but  we  must  be  contented  with  what 
the  good  God  sends  us  and  do  His  will.  I  take  real  delight  in 
guiding  these  little  souls.  They  are  devoted  to  me  and  I  con- 
sider them  as  a  gift  from  God." 


152        c  ft  e   motbtt   of   c  l  ti  6  0 


MRS.   SUSAN  LOOK  AVERT. 

(Letter  from  Madame  Severance's  cousin,  Mary  Ann  Warren.) 
"  Chicago,  Feb.  3,  1898.  I  have  found  a  bonanza  in  a  lady 
eighty-four  years  of  age  who  lives  near  me— Mrs.  Avery, 
mother  of  Mrs.  Lydia  Avery  Coonley-Ward.  She  is  a  most 
remarkable  woman;  strong  mentally  and  physically.  'I  am 
a  hobby  rider,'  she  said  to  me.  First,  she  is  a  woman's  suf- 
fragist; she  is  especially  interested  just  now  in  the  monetary 
question— she  calls  it  the  question  of  the  age.  She  is  full  of 
the  literature  of  the  subject  and  understands  its  mysteries 
from  A  to  Z.  She  read  me  a  paper  last  week  on  *  Moral  Sani- 
tation,' a  noble,  wonderful  work." 


FROM  MRS.  AVERY. 

"Wyoming,  N.  Y.,  Sept.  30,  1902.  I  am  making  a  scrap 
book  of  portraits  and  biographical  sketches  of  woman  suffrag- 
ists,—Lucretia  Mott,  Mrs.  Stanton,  Lucy  Stone,  Miss  Anthony, 
and  others,— those  women  around  whose  heads  we  are  a  halo, 
—who  ought  to  be  canonized— and  will  be  sometime.  I  wish 
to  place  yours  among  them.  *  *  *  My  daughter,  Mrs.  Coonley 
Ward's  visit  in  your  town  and  with  you  has  given  and  still 
gives  her  no  end  of  enjoyment.  *  *  *  I  cannot  tell  you  how 
gratified  I  am  by  the  fulfillment  of  my  long  anticipated  enjoy- 
ment—that of  meeting  you  face  to  face;  and  that  you,  like 
myself,  should  be  a  reader  of  Unity,  the  Commoner,  The 
Public,  The  Woman's  Journal,  The  Woman's  Tribune,  etc.,— 
not  that  we  need  them,  but  that  they  need  us!" 

Mrs.  Avery 's  daughter  writes:  "Rochester,  N.  Y.,  Aug.  15, 
1902.  You  did  much  to  make  my  Los  Angeles  visit  delightful 
and  memory  recalls  every  visit  to  your  lovely  home  with  great 
pleasure.  I  do  wish  mother  could  see  you.  It  would  rejuven- 
ate her,— not  that  she  needs  it,— except  from  the  longing 
of  the  heart  to  know  you  personally.  She  is  as  fresh  and  vivid 
in  all  her  interests  as  a  girl,— I  might  say  equally  with  you. 
I  love  to  think  of  you  and  shall  always  rejoice  in  any  line  you 


Cfte    QMtftet    of   Clufis         153 

may  send  to  me.  Affectionately  and  admiringly  your  friend, 
Lydia  Avery  Coonley-Ward. " 

"Pasadena,  Apr.  1,  1904.  Enclosed  please  find  clipping 
expressive  of  some  of  my  wisdom  on  subjects  which  seem  to 
me  vital,  if  we  are  to  survive  as  a  free  nation.  I  come  this 
moment  to  an  utterance  of  Hon.  M.  L.  Lockwood  at  the  anti- 
trust meeting  in  Chicago,  some  years  ago,  which  I  copy,  al- 
though I  doubtless  send  coals  to  Newcastle  in  so  doing. 

"Up  from  the  centuries,  up  from  all  the  sacrifices  of  all  the 
patriots,  heroes  and  martyrs  of  the  past,  has  come  this  govern- 
ment of  ours,  based  upon  the  doctrine  of  the  equal  rights  of 
man.  If  we  fail,  liberty  is  lost  forever.  There  is  no  virgin 
soil,  no  unbroken  wilderness  in  which  to  plant  again  the  tree 
of  liberty  as  our  forefathers  planted  it.  It  seems  to  me  that 
if  the  good  people  of  our  country  would  awaken  to  our  real 
condition,  our  imperial  danger  might  be  averted.  *  *  *  * 
Susan  L.  Avery." 

"May  16,  1904.  Thanks  for  the  'Letters  of  a  Chinese  Of- 
ficial/ which  came  last  night.  I  have  scanned  them  enough 
to  know  that  the  writer  is  wise  and  brave.  I  shall  read  it 
carefully  and  not  hide  it  under  a  bushel.  *  *  *  You  have 
doubtless  read  in  the  Springfield  Republican  the  article  of  Mr. 
Patterson  and  Sixto  Lopez.  I  wish  it  might  be  read  by  every 
man  and  woman  in  the  world.  Both  gentlemen  were  our 
guests  for  a  week  or  more,  three  years  ago.  I  can  never  for- 
give our  administration  for  refusing  to  receive  and  listen  to 
them." 

HELEN  H.  GARDNER. 

"No  one  could  more  fully  appreciate  your  frank  and  warm 
generosity  in  sending  me  your  cards  to  use  with  your  friends 
in  China  and  Japan.  I  know  the  value  of  your  kind  introduc- 
tions and  I  thank  you  most  truly.  It  is  so  lovely  to  see  men 
and  women  of  your  age  and  experience  keep  sweet  and  will- 
ingly helpful  in  the  world.  So  fe  wdo !  The  disappointment 
in  those  we  love  and  trust,  the  failures  to  live  up  to  the  prom- 


154         Cfte   Sgot&er    of 


ise  given  by  so  many  who  'fall  by  the  wayside,'  after  one  has 
built  on  their  strength  and  truth  and  reality,  is  apt  to  sap 
confidence  and  sour  the  milk  of  human  joy,  if  not  of  kindness. 
*****  Personally,  I  do  not  look  for  wings  to  appear  upon 
very  many  people  the  moment  single  tax,  woman  suffrage, 
government  ownership,  or  any  other  good  or  reasonably  ad- 
vanced idea  blossoms  and  bears  fruit.*  *  *  *  *  I  should  have 
indeed  enjoyed  seeing  you.  You  are  the  one  person  whose 
mental  life  has  attracted  me  to  Southern  California,— the  one 
with  whom  I  have  felt  'in  touch,'  without  words,  from  the  be- 
ginning and  I  do  get  so  intellectually  weary  at  times.  *  *  *  * 
No  one  more  than  I  can  understand  what  it  means  to  'touch 
intellects'  with  your  equals,  no  matter  whether  you  agree  or 
disagree  with  the  particular  outlook  of  those  minds.  The 
stimulus  and  absolute  food  of  such  contact  is  more  vital  to 
me  than  is  anything  else  on  earth,  I  think.  Without  it,  I  am  a 
clod.  *****  You  women  who  call  me  brave  and  have  spoiled 
nie  by  your  generous,  loving  admiration  of  the  few  things  I 
have  written  that  you  feel  have  helped  the  world,  don't  begin 
to  realize  how  utterly  .dependent  I  am  upon  what  you  and  your 
type  give  me.  When  I  am  not  able  to  surround  myself  with 
such  minds,  I  am  worthless.  My  own  mentality  closes  up 
and  I  shrink  to  fit  the  sizes  about  me." 

MRS.  LUCRETIA  R.  GARFIELD. 

"Mentor,  Ohio,  May  22,  1899.  The  home  country  is  in  all  its 
summer  glory  now,  only  the  soft  and  gracious  airs  of  South- 
ern California  are  needed  to  make  it  just  as  perfect.  Mrs. 
Rudolph  joins  me  in  the  remembrance  of  the  worthy  days 
spent  with,  or  near,  you  and  in  best  love  to  you. ' ' 

"Feb.  6,  1901.  (Eightieth  birthday  of  Madame  Severance.) 
My  congratulation  goes  to  you  that  you  are  still  so  young  in 
every  way  but  in  years ;  and  I  hope  that  youth  may  be  contin- 
ued to  you  for  many  more  years.  It  would  have  given  me 
great  pleasure  to  have  been  one  of  the  circle  of  friends  who 
gathered  around  you  on  that  occasion  and  I  thank  you  for 


C  ft  c    £13  a  t  ft  e  r    of    Clubs          155 

including  me  among  your  invited  guests.  Will  you  give  to 
dear  Mrs.  Fremont  and  to  her  daughter,  my  loving  remem- 
brance. Again,  with  kindest  wishes,  I  am  your  devoted 
friend. " 

"It  is  very  dear  of  you  to  keep  us  in  mind.  We  would  love  to 
see  you  often,  but  I  have  been  on  the  health-watching  list  so 
long  that  enterprise  has  taken  leave  of  me.  You  are  such  an 
example  of  vigor  and  of  interest  in  the  work  of  all  the  world, 
that  I  am  condemned  whenever  I  think  of  you.  But  such  as 
I  am,  my  heart  is  full  of  love  for  and  admiration  of  you." 

MRS.  JANE  L.  STANFORD. 

"San  Francisco,  May  20,  1899.  Your  letter  dated  May  19 
is  just  received.  I  was  pleased  to  have  that  little  glance  at 
you  on  the  car  and  did  hope  to  meet  you  again  while  you  were 
at  Menlo,  but  we  shall  meet,  I  am  sure.  *  *  *  *  I  have  often 
remarked  that  those  who  are  in  sympathy  and  fellowship  do 
meet  along  the  pathway  of  life— even  here ;  and  in  the  far  Be- 
yond, we  shall  all  have  time  to  enjoy  the  society  of  those  near- 
est and  dearest  in  ties  of  love  and  ties  of  friendship.  Ever 
your  sincere  friend  and  well-wisher. 

MRS.  GEORGIA  R.  FERGUSON. 

(Wife  of  Professor  Charles  Ferguson,  Author  of  "The  Relig- 
ion of  Democracy. ") 

"December,  1903.  The  greetings  of  the  season  to  you,  dear 
lady,  you  who  have  been  long  in  the  strife  and  who  are  so 
brave  a  striker  for  the  right— you  who  know  better  than  I  do 
what  we  all  ought  to  do  next,— to  pull  together  to  help  the 
poor  and  the  weak.  More  and  more  am  I  convinced  that  the 
social  question  ought  and  can  only  be  solved  by  religion.  A 
religious  enthusiasm  will  be  like  a  bugle  call  heard  all  over 
the  inhabited  globe.  *  *  *  *  Why  do  I  write  you  all  this  ?  Just 
because  you  are  one  of  the  few  women  in  the  world  who  stands 


156         C6e   S©otf)er    of 


and  cares  for  these  things.  Always  affectionately,  gratefully 
and  with  deep  respect/' 

"Jan.  10,  1904.  And  that  dear  picture  that  makes  it  seem 
as  if  I  could  say  'How  do;'  could  ask  you  questions  and  get 
answered;  could  tell  you  about  life's  dealings  with  me,  good 
or  evil,  and  get  philosophy  from  the  lady  who  lives  in  the 
City  of  the  Angels— where  philosophy  certainly  ought  to  orig- 
inate. I  like  your  poets,  too,  and  the  picture  of  the  Los  An- 
geles house  on  West  Adams  street,  and  the  words  of  Keith. 
In  fact  I  liked  it  all,  but  cared  most  that  it  came  from  you, 
— came  with  a  Christmas  greeting  of  friendship.  Thank 
you!" 

"March  25,  1904.  Meadville  Theological  Seminary.  So  go 
our  fine  ambitions ;  first  comes  the  wif ehood ;  then  the  mother- 
hood; then  the  worldhood.  Somehow  you  have  achieved  all 
three— the  trinity  of  being  for  womankind. 

"With  what  a  breath  of  spring  and  violets  and  love  your 
letter  came  to  me!  Sometime  I  shall  bridge  the  gulf  of  the 
continent  which  stretches  between  us  and  I  shall  rejoice  to 
breathe  the  air  of  California— California,  God's  greatest  gift 
to  America,  and  we  will  talk  of  the  problems  and  of  the  work 
to  be  done,  in  the  nest  where  the  violets  grow." 

CHARLOTTE  PERKINS  OILMAN. 

"The  quiet  week  under  your  vine-hung  roof  is  a  very  pleas- 
ant memory,  and  I  am  glad,  too,  that  you  could  go  down  that 
Sunday  morning  and  see  that  I  had  a  place  in  the  hearts  of 
the  people.  Gratefully  and  affectionately  yours." 

"Hull  House,  Aug.  9,  1895.  And  now  I  am  comfortably 
ensconced  in  Hull  House,  warmly  welcomed  and  very  happy. 
*  *  *  *  It  is  exceedingly  pleasant  to  be  so  kindly  remem- 
bered and  to  find  you  really  have  such  confidence  in  me.  May 
I  deserve  it  all!  I  gave  your  message  to  Miss  Addams— Saint 
Jane— who  was  pleased  therewith." 


otftet    of    Clufis          157 


MARY   NEWBERRY  ADAMS. 

"Dubuque,  Iowa.  If  only  some  one  had  kept  good,  full 
scrap  books  on  one  subject,— women  and  their  work,— how 
invaluable  they  would  now  be !  These  set  occasions  are  most 
interesting  and  from  them  history  is  to  learn  what  the  ideals 
of  these  days  were.  I  was  much  pleased  with  your  remarks, 
—I  only  wish  you  had  a  diary  to  publish.  *  *  *  *  History  is 
making  so  rapidly  that  to  even  read  of  it  and  be  posted  as  re- 
gards facts,  so  as  to  form  suitable  and  true  opinions  for  future 
statements,  takes  all  the  time.  These  two  Christian,  Protestant 
nations,  claiming  to  stand  at  the  head  of  civilization,  'holding 
up'  two  struggling  republics  and  murdering  the  people,  and 
nearly  all  the  people  in  this  republic  acquiescing  in  it!  Is  it 
any  wonder  that  robbers  hold  up  express  trains?  Both  give 
the  same  excuse,  'It  pays!'  *  *  *  *  I  think  of  you  often  and 
always  with  love  and  admiration.  We  think  so  much  alike, 
we  must,  in  fact,  be  often  together  preparing  for  a  perpetual 
fellowship  out  of  the  flesh. 

"Do  not  lose  strength  trying  to  mend  things!  Get  your  life 
written  as  you  have  done  things,  and  what  you  have  said,  and 
then  we  will  have  the  spirit  to  inspire  us  through  the  coming 
years.  Give  us  the  full  history  of  kindergartens  in  Los  An- 
geles, the  easiest  way  you  can,  by  letter,  or  otherwise." 

MRS.  JENNIE  D.  DeWITT. 

(Ex-president  of  the  Woman's  Suffrage  Association  of  New 

Jersey,  and  sister  of  Dr.  Thomas  Dowling.) 
"Pasadena,  March  15,  1901.  I  am  most  deeply  interested  in 
all  these  struggles  for  progress,  although  the  responsibility  of 
deciding  among  vast  numbers  of  plans  for  reform  and  ad- 
vancement is  almost  too  much  :£pr  me,  and  I  am  sometimes 
thankful  women  have  not  yet  been  obliged  to  wield  the  ballot. 
*  *  *  *  j  wag  very  sorry  to  leave  the  other  night  before  the 
discussion  was  finished,  but  was  glad  to  have  met  a  body  of 
men  and  women  who  are  always  looking  upward.  I  shall  hope 
to  meet  them  again  and  to  talk  with  you  upon  all  these  great 


158          Cfte   Sgjotfier    of   CIu60 


issues,  which  are  stirring  the  world  to  the  foundation.  Many 
thanks  for  your  kindness.  I  long  for  a  sight  of  your  face  and 
a  tone  of  your  voice." 

"  Pasadena,  Dec.  19,  1902.  Your  letter  of  sweet  sympathy 
was  a  comfort  to  me.  My  sister  (Mrs.  Dr.  Dowling)  was  truly 
one  of  the  most  lovable  women  I  ever  knew.  She  did  little 
with  her  hands,  but  her  brain  and  heart  were  always  at  high 
pressure.  They  will  all  realize  a  void  which  none  other  can 
fill.  We,  too,  shall  never  know  a  sister  like  her.  *  *  *  We  were 
sorry  not  to  be  able  to  attend  the  University  extension  lec- 
ture. Thanks  for  your  card.  It  was  very  thoughtful  of  you. 
Yours  for  light  and  progress. " 

"Pasadena,  June  14,  1902.  With  you,  I  regret  that  no  word 
was  uttered  by  the  women  of  the  Federation  expressing  sym- 
pathy with  the  agonized  women  in  South  Africa.  Is  it  not 
strange  that  men  and  women  can  look  on  all  over  the  world, 
and  at  this  age  of  the  world,  and  do  nothing  to  stop  the 
horror?  I  noted  your  plea  for  peace.  It  went  straight  to 
my  heart,  and  to  all  hearts,  I  am  sure,  although  tongues  were 
tied. 

"The  Transvaal  League  in  Chicago  is  trying  to  organize 
concerted  appeal  to  the  President  to  take  some  steps  in  this 
country  for  the  relief  of  the  Boer  women  and  children,  and 
to  prevent  the  shipment  of  horses  from  this  country  to  South 
Africa.  The  work  is  so  stupendous  that  it  calls  for  a  na- 
tional, or  even  an  international,  movement.  I  received  a  re- 
quest from  the  secretary  of  the  League  to  favor  him  with  a  list 
of  the  most  prominent  Boer  sympathizers  in  Los  Angeles,  so 
I  want  to  ask  you  to  give  me  a  few  names  of  the  leading  pro- 
Boers.  Lilia  D.  DeWitt."  (Daughter  of  Mrs.  Jennie  D.  De 
Witt.) 

HELEN  DENSMORE. 

(Active  friend  of  Mrs.  Maybrick.) 

"Chicago,  Mar.  20,  1899.  I  am  sending  you  by  this  post  an 
article  published  in  the  Chicago  Record-Herald,  giving  a  de- 
scription of  the  workings  of  an  insane  asylum  at  Kankakee, 


Cfte   9@otftet    of   Clu60  159 

It  fills  me  with  delight,  as  I  know  it  will  you,  to  know  that 
there  is  one  spot  on  the  earth  that  has  adopted  love  as  a  rul- 
ing force  in  the  management  of  its  institutions,  and  made 
human  kindness  the  method  of  its  operations.  My  husband 
has  long  contended  that  the  time  will  come  on  the  earth  when 
all  its  affairs  will  be  managed  through  love,  when  man  will 
be  more  anxious  for  the  happiness  and  well-being  of  his  neigh- 
bor than  for  himself.  It  seems  to  me  that  this  institution 
offers  a  promise  of  this.  *  *  *  *  This  seems,  after  California, 
like  Paradise  Lost,  and  it  will  not  be  my  fault  if  Paradise  is 
mot  regained  as  speedily  as  possible." 

"Belair,  llth  Ave.  and  14th  St.,  Brooklyn,  L.  L,  April  27, 
1900.  I  believe  there  is  no  one  in  the  world,  who  deprecates 
more  than  I  do  the  horrors  of  war.  War  ought  to  be— and 
will  be— when  the  race  develops  its  altruistic  side,  an  unthink- 
able thing ;  but  we  cannot  be  blind  to  the  fact  that  it  has  been 
through  this  terrible  scourge  that  civilization  has  been  pos- 
sible, and  like  all  other  evils  that  have  attended  the  growth 
of  the  race,  it  is  being  constantly  minimized,  as  a  realization 
of  its  true  character  takes  possession  of  the  public  mind.  We 
sail  May  fifth  and  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  from  you  at  Knees- 
worth  house. 

"Kneesworth  House,  76  Elm  Park  Koad,  Chelsea,  London, 
July  24,  1901.  The  season  is  nearly  at  its  close  here  and  it 
has  not  been  a  very  gay  one  on  account  of  the  death  of  the 
queen.  I  suppose  they  will  make  up  for  it  next  year  with 
the  festivities  of  the  coronation,  for  which  they  have  begun 
preparation.  I  am  going  next  week  to  Aylesbury  prison  to 
visit  poor  Mrs.  Maybrick.  There  seems  to  be  no  hope  of  her 
release,  for  the  present  at  least.  It  is  a  very  mysterious  case 
and  the  worst  of  it  is  the  continued  and  stubborn  refusal  of 
the  English  government  to  release  her,— so  out  of  all  sense  and 
reason  that  it  leaves  an  impression,  very  difficult  to  overcome, 
that  they  must  have  some  knowledge  of  her  guilt  which  is 
not  known  to  the  public.  They  do  not  take  into  consideration 
that  the  Lord  Chief  Justice  Russell  must  necessarily  know  it 


160         Cfte   QMtfter    of    CIu60 

this  were  true.  But  he  has  assured  the  friends  of  Mrs.  May- 
brick  that  it  was  not,  and  so  the  mystery  stands  and  we  will 
have  to  bear  it  the  best  way  we  can.  I  fancy  the  poor  little 
woman  is  as  brave  as  any  one  interested.  Such  experiences  as 
this  give  me  almost  the  strongest  faith  of  any  one  thing,  that 
mortals  are  sustained,  upheld  and  comforted  by  a  spiritual 
power,  though  not  necessarily  conscious  of  it.  I  should  like 
very  much  to  hear  from  you." 

"  We  have  made  two  very  valuable  additions  to  our  social 
circle  in  London,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Borglum  and  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Hare,  (formerly  Miss  Freeman,  of  Southern  California.)  The 
Borglums  were  very  glad  to  hear  of  you  and  to  see  some  one 
who  had  recently  seen  you." 

LILIAN  WHITING. 

"The  Brunswick,  Boston,  Oct.  24,  1897.  What  a  new  stim- 
ulus and  joy  in  life  to  have  your  kind  remembrances!  How 
can  I  thank  you?  And  how  strange— or  what  an  illustration 
of  spiritual  laws  it  is  that  this  direct  word  came  to  me  from 
you  when  I  was  mentally  searching  space  for  you.  Again 
I  am  caught  up  into  a  new  blessedness  of  faith  in  the  invisible 
leadings.  Indeed,  all  the  causes  in  life  are  in  the  unseen,  the 
effects  in  the  seen.  What  an  inspiration  of  truth  was  upon 
Lowell  when  he  wrote,  'We  see  not  half  the  causes  of  our 
deeds  here  in  this  outer  world,  etc.!'  You  remember  the  pas- 
sage. My  spiritual  searchlight  went  out  in  quest  of  you  in 
relation  to  my  beloved  friend,  Kate  Field,  whom  I  think  you 
knew  well.  I  am  engaged  on  her  biography  and  every  word 
or  link  is  so  precious  to  me.  *****  you  are  graciously 
kind,  my  dear  Mrs.  Severance,  in  your  allusion  to  any  little 
work  of  mine.  And  while  I  am  grateful  for  it,  as  a  standard  to 
grow  toward  and  as  dear  encouragement,  from  a  woman  so 
great  as  yourself,  I  realize  how  far  beyond  my  desert  it  is.  I 
reason  to  myself,  if  I  only  had  what  I  deserve,  what  a  terribly 
poor,  barren  and  meager  life  I  should  have,  to  be  sure!" 


otficr   of   Cltt&s         i6i 


ELIZABETH  B.  CUSTEE. 

"Your  delightful  hospitality  to  us  today  has  filled  us  with 
enthusiasm  and  I  thank  you  very  much  for  your  kindness  in 
receiving  strangers  as  we  were  greeted.  I  shall  carry  away 
the  vision  of  your  home  as  one  of  the  pleasantest  souvenirs 
of  the  Pacific  coast." 

SARAH  BURGER  STEARNS. 

"Baltimore,  May  22,  1903.  Your  precious  letter  came  this 
morning.  I  hasten  to  thank  you  for  it.  *  *  *  It  is  true  I  have 
read  and  thought  much  since  coming  here  on  socialism,  and 
other  good  themes,  but  have  not  tried  to  turn  my  thoughts 
to  much  account.  Have  been  lazily  resting.  You  seem  to 
rest  your  brain  by  writing.  That  is  more  than  most  people  can 
do.  Otherwise  I  would  say  you  must  not  write  me  such  long 
letters.  But  they  are  such  intensely  interesting  letters  that 
I  have  not  the  courage  to  discourage  you  from  writing  to  me, 
of  delightful  friends  and  visitors  and  co-workers,  in  Woman's 
Parliament,  Congress  of  Religions,  etc.  *  *  *  *  I  have  known 
something  of  all  those  of  whom  you  write  and  would  like  to 
know  more  of  them.  Would  thank  you  very  much  for  a  copy 
of  anything  of  yours  that  appears  in  print.  Each  one  would  be 
put  among  those  I  am  saving  for  my  daughter.'7 

MARY  FLORENCE  DENTON. 

(Pasadena.) 

(Teacher  in  Woman's  College,  Tokio,  Japan.) 
"Do  you  think  of  any  ladies  who  would  be  interested  in  our 
girl?  We  are  very  near  our  mark  (in  finance.)  If  those  of 
you  who  started  it  had  held  back  we  could  not  have  done  it. 
I  am  very  grateful.  Thank  you  more  than  I  can  say,  my 
dear  Mrs.  Severance,  for  all  you  have  accomplished  to  help  the 
women  everywhere.  God  bless  you!  I  know  He  will.  I  can 
never  tell  how  your  goodness  has  inspired  me,  how  it  has 


162         C6e   QSJot&er    of   CIu60 


given  me  courage  and  strength  in  these  days  that  have  some- 
times seemed  dark.    I  am  glad  to  have  met  you." 

WILL  ALLEN  DROMGOOLE. 

"Sept.  6,  1901.  It  is  so  good  of  you  to  say  such  beautiful 
things  of  me  and  to  me,  and  in  all  the  world  there  is  nothing 
more  dear  to  me  than  your  valued  friendship.  God  bless  you 
always  for  all  your  goodness  to  me ! ' ' 

"Yellowhammer's  Nest,  Tenn.  If  I  could  be  here  at  work 
from  May  to  November  and  with  you  the 'rest  of  the  year,  I 
should  be  happy.  The  people  here  were  so  glad  to  see  me  and 
eager  for  the  word  1  brought  them  from  'the  warm  bright 
West,  and  withal,  so  poor,  so  needy,  truly  I  feel  my  work  is 
here.  Some  one  brought  me  a  box  of  fine  oranges  (to  the 
train)  about  two  dozen  fine  tmes.  I  did  not  eat  one.  They 
made  others  so  happy,  brought  a  smile  to  so  many  faded  faces, 
that  I  did  not  have  the  heart  to  touch  one  of  them.  I  only 
wished  I  might  have  brought  a  hundred.  With  a  heart  full  of 
love  to  you,  I  am  your  affectionate  little  lover. " 

"The  Nest,  Sept.  1,  1902.  My  dear  friend.  Your  letter  is 
here  this  hour. '  I  can  think  of  no  happiness  greater  than  that 
of  living  with  you.  I  am  trying  my  best  and,  oh,  I  do  want 
to  come !  Everyone  is  leaving  now  and  the  gloom  of  autumn 
is  settling  upon  us." 

WILLIAM  LLOYD  GARRISON,  JR. 

"Brookline,  Oct.  25,  1902.  It  was  a  great  pleasure  to  re- 
ceive your  letter  of  Oct.  2,  which  would  have  received  earlier 
reply  had  I  been  at  home  on  its  arrival.  *  *  *  *  We  have  a 
vague  plan  of  spending  part  of  this  winter  in  Southern  Cal- 
ifornia, if  it  is  possible.  It  would  be  worth  a  journey  across 
the  continent  just  for  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you  again.  *  *  * 
*  *  A  dear  friend  of  ours  has  just  gone  to  live  in  Los  Angeles 
with  her  husband,  and  she  urges  us  to  take  the  trip.  She  is 
Mrs,  Drr  Elbert  Wing,  late  of  Chicago.  *  *  *  *  *  Your  ac- 


C  ft  e    €0 o t ft e t    of    Cl  it  6  0          IBS 


count  of  your  intellectual  activity  and  broad  interest  in  cur- 
rent progress  was  charming  and  delightful.  How  much  I 
should  like  to  talk  with  you  on  the  many  matters  of  common 
concern!  I  always  ask  eagerly  of  you  from  the  travelers  who 
return  from  the  Pacific  coast.  Good  Mr.  Prang  and  his  wife 
are  coming  to  see  us  tomorrow,  and  I  shall  ply  them  with  per- 
sonal questions.  It  was  a  comfort  to  know  that  my  occas- 
ional writings  pass  under  your  eye.  *  *  *  *  I  delight  in  the 
Public  and  the  Springfield  Republican,  but  am  not  enthusi- 
astic over  the  Commoner,  although  a  subscriber  and  willing 
to  acknowledge  the  courage  and  ability  of  many  of  its  dis- 
cussions. *  *  *  *  We  shall  think  of  you  next  Wednesday  at 
the  memorial  service  to  be  held  in  honor  of  Dr.  Zakrzewska. 
*  *  *  *  As  regards  Mrs.  — ,  whom  I  remember  well,  I  am  sorry 
to  say  that  her  spirit  autograph  of  "  John  Ralph  Burroughs" 
mystifies  me.  I  cannot  recall  ever  knowing  such  a  man.  As 
for  the  handwriting,  it  seems  to  me  to  be  that  of  Mrs.  —  pure 
and  simple.  How  I  wish  that  one  glimmer  of  intelligence  con- 
cerning dear  ones  who  have  passed  on  could  ever  fall  in  my 
way!  In  all  the  years  since  my  father  died  I  have,  in  the 
various  communications  purporting  to  come  from  him,  been 
unable  to  recognize  a  single  characteristic  sentence.  ***** 
I  should  be  glad  to  feel  now  the  certitude  regarding  continu- 
ance after  death  which  I  thought  I  believed  in  youth.  I  am 
content  to  leave  the  question  to  its  near  solution,  with  the 
hope  that  I  may  wake  to  learn  what  it  is.  I  know  there  are 
unnumbered  wonders  beyond  my  ken  in  this  life  and  would 
not  deny  that  greater  may  exist  beyond  the  grave.  ***** 
I  suppose  you  know  that  we  are  grandparents,  having  three 
descendants  of  this  generation.  They  are  a  great  comfort  to 
us.  Our  youngest  son,  William  Lloyd  Garrison,  Jr.,  has  a 
bouncing  boy  of  nine  months,  bearing  the  paternal  name  and 
making  the  fourth  William  Lloyd  Garrison.  *****  I  am 
driven  to  the  use  of  the  machine  in  my  correspondence  be- 
cause of  the  fatigue  of  writing  with  my  injured  hand.  So  I 
discard  the  pen  when  I  can  play  upon  the  keys  instead. 


164          cfte    Qgotftet    of    CIu60 

Father,  who  found  writing  such  a  bondage,  would  have  de- 
lighted in  this  deliverance  from  manual  labor.  With  affection- 
ate regards,  in  which  my  wife  joins,  Sincerely  yours." 

"I  received  your  letter  of  Jan.  23d  duly,  and  am  delighted 
to  find  myself  in  accord  with  you  on  the  Philippine  question 
and  jingoism  generally.  We  are  in  the  midst  of  a  momentous 
struggle  for  the  preservation  of  democratic  ideals,  and  every 
voice  and  pen  is  needed  at  this  crisis  to  oppose  the  betrayers 
of  the  nation  now  in  power.  *****  I  often  think  of  you  and 
the  dear  old  days  and  friends,  and  wish  I  were  near  enough  to 
drop  in  and  talk  over  with  you  themes  which  are  near  our 
hearts.  I  am  sure  we  would  agree  on  fundamentals  and 
that  it  is  only  a  difference  of  phraseology  and  understanding 
that  makes  us  see  social  questions  in  conflicting  lights.  *  *  * 
*  *  *]y[y  wife  has  gone  to  Washington  to  attend  the  Woman 
Suffrage  Convention  and  Susan's  eightieth  birthday.  I  re- 
gret that  I  was  unable  to  accompany  her.  *  *  *  *  If  you  were 
to  come  back  to  Roxbury,  you  would  hardly  know  the  old 
place.  Highland  street  is  a  nest  of  cheap  tenements  and  its 
glory  has  departed.  Your  old  house,  however,  and  its  neigh- 
bors are  as  of  yore.  *  *  *  *  Dear  me,  how  time  flies !  It  will 
be  twenty-one  years  in  May  since  my  father  died,  and  I  am 
now  an  old,  gray-headed  man  of  sixty-two  and  the  procession 
keeps  right  along.  However,  the  past  is  secure  and  the  retro- 
spect is  full  of  pleasure  in  spite  of  occasional  sadness." 

"Lexington,  Jan.  4,  1904.  The  blessings  of  the  New  Tear 
upon  you  and  our  hearty  congratulations  on  your  approach- 
ing birthday,  which,  alas,  is  beyond  my  calling  distance.  How 
I  should  love  to  repeat  my  birthday  call  of  last  year.  What 
would  one  not  give  to  be  so  useful  at  eighty-four.  Must  I 
confess  to  homesickness  for  Southern  California?  The  beauty 
of  it  haunts  me.  Yesterday  and  today  the  mercury  records 
six  below  zero.  In  this  bleak  country-house  I  have  to  keep 
two  furnaces  in  full  blast,  and  additional  coal  fires  and  open 
ones  of  wood  besides.  Life  is  a  struggle  to  keep  warm.  Our 
new  home  is  on  a  hillside  exposed  on  all  sides  to  the  bitter 


ot6er    of   C I  it  60          IBS 


blast.  It  has  the  blessing  of  sunshine  and  light  and  is  near 
my  dear  son  and  his  family  and  not  far  from  my  brothers. 
But  no  condition  is  free  from  drawbacks  and  the  domestic  ques- 
tion is  acute  in  this  remoteness.  Girls  are  lonesome  and  likewise 
fearful  at  night  in  their  home-coming.  We  are  on  our  seventh 
cook  since  September  and  count  ourselves  lucky  when  we 
think  of  our  Brookline  tenant  who  has  had  twenty-one  cooks 
in  the  same  time.  *****  j  am  reminded  of  Los  Angeles  by 
the  presence  of  Madame  Yamei  Kin,  who  spoke  at  the  lunch 
of  the  '  Century  Club  last  Saturday.  I  was  afraid 
that  the  drifting  snows  would  block  our  roads  and  I  would  be 
kept  at  home.  Mrs.  Halliday  and  the  Wings  keep  us  stirred 
up  with  envy,  and  other  friends  will  not  let  us  forget,  if  we 
could,  the  land  that  has  no  winter  in  its  calendar.  I  had  an 
interesting  letter  a  few  days  ago  from  Mrs.  Spring,— may 
her  days  be  lengthened  yet  many  years!  I  hope  she  is  still 
showing  what  youth  is  in  the  nineties.  ******  j  wonder  if 
you  know  Francis  F.  Brown,  editor  of  the  Dial,  Chicago,  who 
has  a  winter  home  at  Pasadena?  He  was  most  helpful  and 
friendly  to  us  last  year  and  is  an  interesting  and  true  man. 
We  met  him  again  in  Chicago  on  our  return  and  Mrs.  Coonley 
Ward  invited  him  to  stay  at  her  house  with  us.  *  *  *  *  * 
Mrs.  Avery,  Mrs.  Ward's  mother,  wrote  me  the  other  day 
that  she  had  heard  from  Mr.  Brown  who  was  in  'Paradise  as 
well  as  in  Pasadena.'  *  *  *  *  The  political  situation  has  few 
signs  of  encouragement  to  the  reformer's  eye,  but  all  the  same, 
events  big  with  fate  may  be  near  at  hand.  I  am  delight- 
ing myself  with  Morley's  Life  of  Gladstone  and  find  there 
much  that  parallels  our  condition,  from  which  I  draw  hope. 
*  *  *  Last  month  Mr.  Higginson  celebrated  his  eightieth  birth- 
day and  scouts  the  idea  of  old  age.  Indeed  he  seems  unusually 
active  in  writing  and  speaking.  And  here  is  Mr.  Hale,  several 
years  older,  going  to  Washington  to  be  Chaplain  of  the  Sen- 
ate. Mrs.  Howe  is  about  with  her  ordinary,  or  extraordinary 
activities  and  Mrs.  Livermore  at  eighty-three,  I  believe,  is 
'on  tap'  for  every  function  that  calls  her." 


166         cfje    Sgjotfcer    of 


' 'Boston,  Nov.  1,  1904.  Taking  up  your  welcome  commun- 
ication of  July  16th,  I  gaze  with  delight  and  satisfaction  on 
the  charming  picture  of  'El  Nido,'  of  blessed  memory.  How 
often  have  I  wished  that  it  were  nearer  Lexington  and  con- 
venient for  a  morning  call !  I  do  often  drop  in  on  you  in  spirit 
and  see  you  busy  with  your  pen  at  your  familiar  desk.  *  *  *  * 
Your  letter  speaks  of  Rockledge  [the  Garrison  homestead, 
now  devoted  to  the  use  of  colored  people]  and  the  new  use  it 
has  been  put  to.  Yesterday  we  went  over  the  house  and  view- 
ed with  satisfaction  the  marked  changes.  A  sun  parlor  has 
been  built  on  in  front  and  a  large  bay  window  on  the  side, 
while  at  the  back  a  large  balcony  has  been  put  up.  The  house 
itself  is  renovated  and  attractive,  only  the  chapel  upstairs, 
with  its  shrine,  seems  far  removed  from  the  Garrison  days. 
The  nice  sisters  who  care  for  the  little  ones  are  most  agree- 
able. *****!  read  with  much  interest  and  sympathy  J.  Stitt 
Wilson's  'The  Message  of  Socialism  to  the  Church/  Its  spirit 
is  admirable  and  I  regret  not  having  met  Mr.  Wilson  when  I  was 
in  Los  Angeles.  I  have  no  desire  to  quarrel  with  such  earnest 
people  who  are  aiming  at  a  noble  goal,  although  by  a  different 
path  from  the  one  that  most  appeals  to  me.  But  I  am  sure  no  one 
can  read  that  discourse  without  conceiving  a  high  regard  for 
the  speaker.  *  *  *  *  We  had  a  week  of  great  profit  and  delight 
when  the  International  Peace  conference  met  in  this  city. 
Many  of  our  English  friends  came  over  and  were  blessed 
with  October's  choicest  weather.  I  have  no  doubt  that  the 
meeting  will  result  in  good  and  help  increase  the  growing 
protest  against  war.  Now  the  people  have  scattered,  carry- 
ing away  strength  for  their  work  and  richer  by  new  friend- 
ships. Prof.  Bryce  is  in  Boston  lecturing  at  the  Lowell  In- 
stitute and  in  Cambridge.  Tonight  the  Armenians  give  him 
a  reception  at  the  Vendome.  Mrs.  Howe  will  preside.  She 
holds  her  own  wonderfully  for  one  who  doesn't  live  in  Los 
Angeles." 


N.  0.  NELSON. 

Among  the  efforts  for  bettering  the  condition  of  our  wage 
earners,  Madame  Severance  has  been  deeply  interested  in  the 
profit-sharing  which  was  begun  in  England  and  France  dec- 
ades ago  by  the  Owens  and  Godins  and  which  is  now  follow- 
ed at  Leclaire,  near  St.  Louis,  and  in  Alabama  by  N.  O.  Nelson. 

While  Mr.  Nelson  and  family  were  spending  a  winter  at 
Pasadena,  Madame  Severance  wrote  him  for  business  advice 
concerning  the  Woman's  Exchange  just  then  inaugurated  in 
Los  Angeles.  In  reply  he  wrote  of  his  active  connection  with 
the  St.  Louis  Woman's  Exchange,  and  stated  that  for  fifteen 
years  this  had  been  a  steady  disappointment  to  its  ardent 
friends  and  patrons.  He  advised  instead  a  co-operative  fac- 
tory running  on  solid  work,  children's  wear,  underclothing, 
etc.,  and  adds,  "Let  me  say  that  what  I  have  learned  of  you 
and  from  you  has  helped  much  to  give  me  confidence  in  the 
future." 

Madame  Severance's  comment  is:  "That  Mr.  Nelson's  wise 
method  and  noble-hearted  services  for  his  fellows,  help  her 
to  the  same  faith."  From  this  time  their  correspondence  has 
been  most  hearty,  full  and  frequent. 

"St.  Louis,  Oct.  2,  1902.  I  spent  most  of  yesterday  with 
Mayor  Jones  and  he  showed  me  your  letter  of  Aug.  6th.  If 
good  wishes  of  two  men  wishing  together  are  equal  to  a 
prayer,  then  you  will  live  a  long  time  to  enjoy  life  yourself 
and  bless  a  whole  countryful  of  people.  We  walked  together 
from  the  station  up  to  the  mayor's  office,  two  miles,  and  later 
we  went  to  dinner  in  the  Golden  Rule  Dining  Room,  above 
the  factory.  Jones  works  an  hour  or  two  a  day  in  plain, 
straight  factory  work  and  dines  with  the  rest  of  the  fellows, 
including  his  son  who  is  learning  the  machinist's  trade.  After 
a  good  plain  fifteen-cent  dinner  Jones  did  some  introducing 
and  then  I,  of  course,  had  to  do  some  talking.  *  *  *  *  We  talked 
over  our  plans  for  getting  a  little  additional  morals  into  our 
business  and  the  work,  which  means  to  get  it  entirely  into  the 


168         cfte   fifijotfter   of   €  1 1160 

employees'  hands.  That,  I  think  you  will  agree  with  us,  is 
the  only  right  thing.  Then  we  walked  up  to  the  office  again, 
had  a  pleasant  call  from  Mrs.  Jones,  and  he  saw  me  off  on 
the  six  o'clock  train.  In  New  York  I  lunched  twice  with  Mrs. 
Perkins  Oilman  whom  I  found  in  good  health  and  spirits  and 
genial,  as  usual.  *  *  *  *  I  went  to  hear  Charles  Ferguson 
preach  and  after  the  sermon  met  him  and  his  wife  and  Wil- 
shire.  They  were  all  anxious  to  meet  Mrs.  Gilman  and  I  took 
it  on  myself  to  ask  them  all  over  after  the  lunch.  We  then 
had  a  splendid  afternoon.  Your  name,  of  course,  came  up 
in  the  course  of  the  talking  and  we  were  all  of  one  mind. 
Somehow  you  manage  to  hypnotize  us  all.  *  *  *  *  From  several 
of  my  Wall  street  and  big  trust  friends  I  learned,  somewhat  to 
my  surprise,  that  they  are  convinced  the  Morganization  of 
business  will  keep  going  on  and  that  no  one  can  feel  secure 
in  any  kind  of  business.  I  also  got  some  particulars  from 
the  inside  as  to  how  the  really  big  Wall  street  men  round  up 
the  property  of  the  smaller  speculators.  They  handle  it  with 
mathematical  precision.  *  *  *  *  I  count  on  the  great  pleasure 
of  seeing  you  before  long." 

"St.  Louis,  May  4,  1904.  I  found  Leclaire  out  in  beautiful, 
rich,  spring  blooming  colors,  with  Mrs.  Nelson  on  deck,  di- 
recting the  planting  of  flowers  in  the  garden,  and  the  like.  We 
have  two  good-sized  tulip  beds  with  enough  bright  color  to 
illuminate  a  dark  night.  The  birds,  oh,  the  birds  are  so 
friendly,  for  nobody  in  Leclaire  hurts  them.  My  good  vigor- 
ous hoeing  from  5 :30  in  the  morning,  after  a  cup  of  coffee  (not 
cereal)  until  seven  o'clock  breakfast  with  wife  and  daughter 
is  the  cheeriest  part  of  the  day.  Sometimes  I  take  a  little 
run  down  to  the  lake,  about  three  hundred  yards  away,  and 
peer  into  the  big  oak  woods  alongside  of  it.  There  are  ten 
new  houses  this  spring  in  Leelaire  and  five  more  to  start  soon. 
*****  What  a  monster  victory  Jones  got !  Wonder  if  you 
saw  the  figures.  More  than  twice  the  votes  of  all  other  can- 
didates put  together.  Then,  Tom  Johnson  also  won  out  partly 
on  the  same  ground,  the  goodwill  qualities  of  the  man.  *  *  The 


Cfte    Cgjotfter    of    CItt&0  169 

world  is  moving  along  at  about  as  good  a  rate  as  we  have 
any  historical  reason  to  expect.  *  *  *  The  unions,  like  other 
people,  do  many  foolish  things,  but  if  rightly  met  they,  as 
well  as  the  employer's  side,  can  be  talked  out  of  the  foolish- 
ness. *  *  *  *  I  cannot  make  any  forecast  of  the  political 
future.  Whether  the  Democratic  party  will  get  socialized 
or  the  conservative  prevail,  is  only  guessing.  I  have  no  par- 
ticular choice  between  them.  Socialist  success,  I  think,  can 
at  best  only  be  looked  for,  in  our  time,  in  municipalities.  In 
fact,  I  think  Socialism  will  come  by  gradual  assumption  of 
public  ownership,  mainly  municipal,  but  with  some  possibil- 
ities of  national.  San  Francisco  will,  I  think,  in  the  coming 
election  vote  for  bonds  to  build  the  Geary  street  system,  and 
with  its  success,  of  which  I  am  confident,  the  idea  will  spread. 
The  breakdown  of  the  Yerkes  consolidated  street  car  system 
in  Chicago  is,  I  think,  likely  to  result  in  early  municipal  own- 
ership there,  by  some  plan  or  other.  Trusting  all  is  well  with 
you,  faithfully  yours. " 

Again:  "Will  you  pardon  a  lazy  man's  pencil,  because  it 
comes  handier  in  this  lazy  chair,  in  this  lazy  room  ?  By  all  means 
let  us  encourage  laziness  in  this  strenuous  time  and  country, 
as  well  as  simplicity  in  this  world  of  luxury.  Welcome  the 
penciling,  or  burn  the  sheet.  *  *  *  *  I  would  like  something 
easy— but  perhaps  I  wouldn't.  When  I  get  to  your  age  I  am 
going  to  take  a  day  off  and  loaf  and  learn.  It  may  be  on  your 
veranda  where  serenity  always  reigns.  Yet  my  friend  Hoi- 
yoke,  three  or  four  years  your  senior,  is  as  irrepressibly  active 
with  his  pen  as  he  was  fifty,  sixty,  seventy  years  ago.  *  *  *  * 
You  always  have  more  fresh  things  on  your  table  and  in  your 
head  than  any  of  the  thirty-year-old  professors  or  club  mem- 
bers. I  guess  there  is  nothing  in  the  matter  of  years.  Our 
theosophical  friends  would  say,  I  suppose,  that  our  karma 
doesn't  grow  old,  but  it  may  grow  stupid— if  we  let  it.  *  *  * 
They  tell  us  that  thought  is  the  parent  of  action.  If  they  had 
said  that  thought  was  married  to  action,  I  would  answer  that 


170          Cfte    Q^otftet    of    C 1 1160 

they  seem  to  have  been  married  and  got  divorced !    Of  course 
I  mean  reform,  and  preaching  thoughts." 

"St.  Louis,  July  16,  1903.  Dear  Mrs.  Severance.  Yes,  I  got 
your  long  letter  and  was  glad  it  was  so  long,  and  glad  that 
I  was  alive,  if  for  no  other  reason  than  to  get  the  letter.  This 
one  is  short,  but  equally  interesting  in  proportion.  *  *  *  Take 
good  rests  in  your  hammock  on  the  porch,  read  Emerson's 
Divinity  Address  and  Dartmouth  Address,  and  the  American 
Scholar,  and  such  inspiring  stuff,  you  will  be  keeping  your  ac- 
tivities moderated,  as  I  think  you  generally  do,  you  will  con- 
tinue to  be  the  ethical  magnet  of  Southern  California,  and  to 
some  extent,  the  United  States,  for  many  years  to  come.  Of 
course,  I  can't  advise  you  to  do  a  boy's  work  as  I  do,  hoeing  corn 
a  few  hours  a  day  and  outdoing  the  best  man  we  can  hire,  and 
then  on  holidays,  the  big  flower  beds  about  the  factories  and  the 
school  house  grounds,  of  which  I  am  sole  architect,  workman 
and  nurse.  Daughter  has  gone  on  a  five  months'  trip  to  the 
foreigners.  We  get  weekly  letters  of  from  twenty-four  tc 
forty  pages.  She  gives  a  very  interesting  and  amusing  ac- 
count of  her  visit  to  the  House  of  Lords.  The  Industrial 
School  at  Leclaire  is  a  hummer.  I  suppose  you  keep 
up  with  modern  slang  as  well  as  the  more  serious  sounding 
things.  I  work  every  day  on  the  farm  with  the  boys.  Busi- 
ness gets  only  a  day  a  week  in  St.  Louis  and  but  two  or  three 
hours  a  day  at  Leclaire.  I  like  my  jean  suit  and  flannel  shirt 
better  than  the  city  rig.  I  am  pleased  to  inform  you  that  a 
majority  of  the  boys  choose  the  farm  work  with  me  and  one 
of  the  teachers.  Second  choice  is  house  building.  Third  and 
last  and  smallest  the  factory  work.  This  is  entirely  to  my 
taste.  We  have  good  times,  lots  of  them.  Physical  culture 
classes,  singing,  bowling,  dancing,  Sunday  afternoon  singing 
and  reading,  rowing  on  the  lake,  and  am  just  now  starting  a 
tent  camp  by  the  lake  for  the  boys  and  some  grown  folks.  I  de- 
voutly trust  that  you  are  in  good  health  and  I  shall  be  de- 
lighted to  hear  from  you  whenever  the  spirit  moveth." 


Cl)e   Qjjotfcer    of   Clu60          m 


(Writing  from  Indio,  Cal.,  where  he  established  a  resort  for 
invalid  workmen,  and  others.) 

"I  have  about  decided  to  locate  here.  It  is  the  best  tuber- 
culosis climate  known  and  excellent  for  other  diseases.  Water 
is  abundant  everywhere  and  land  exceedingly  productive  and 
cheap.  I  brought  Mr.  Harriman  along  and  he  is  already  much 
improved  and  feels  happy  and  encouraged.  ******  Nine 
months  of  pleasant  weather,  three  months  very  hot.  Only  one- 
half  to  three  inches  rainfall;  winter  nights  down  to  25  and  20 
degrees,  but  so  dry  that  colds  or  pneumonia  are  almost  un- 
known. *****  We  are  four  hours  from  Los  Angeles;  fare 
$3.00— not  bad.  While  it  is  a  desert  valley,  it  is  yet  very 
picturesque,  high  mountains  either  side,  gorgeous  daybreaks 
and  sunsets,  grand  snow  peaks  in  full  view.  Exactly  sea 
level,  but  dry.  I  assure  you  your  interest  and  your  kind  and 
cheering  words  are  always  appreciated." 

"April  14,  1904.  To  report  progress  in  things  you  are  al- 
ways interested  in,  which  are  many,  the  Indio  camp  is  ex- 
ceeding expectations.  It  has  now,  in  its  hot  weather,  31 
consumptives  and  about  65  in  all,  including  accompany- 
ing friends.  *  *  *  *  Before  I  left  we  had  a  very  congenial  com- 
pany,—a  good  social  settlement.  It  was  an  agreeable  place  to 
be  in,  not  alone  for  the  good  that  was  being  done,  but  for  good 
company  and  natural  beauty,  including  gorgeous  day-breaks 
and  magnificent  sunsets  and  after-glows.  Nothing  finer  than 
the  desert." 

"Feb.  9,  1905.  Only  to  say  that  your  letters  cheer  me  more 
than  any  other,  though  there  are  a  number  of  good  friends, 
especially  old  ones  like  Holyoke  and  Hale,  who  often  say  me 
a  good  word.  I  will  let  your  glorious  letter  'lay  in  soak'  for 
a  while  and  then  break  loose.  *  *  *  I  am,  like  you,  an  oppor- 
tunist socialist,  with  a  strong  leaning  toward  the  voluntary, 
the  educational." 

After  the  Biennial  meeting  in  Los  Angeles,  in  May,  1902, 
Mr.  Nelson  wrote  Madame  Severance  in  his  genial  way, 
apropos  of  the  "rising  vote  in  tribute  to  her  age,"  given  in 


172         Cfte   S^otfier   of   Clufis 

response  to  the  president's  motion  to  make  Madame  Sever- 
ance honorary  president,  "No  occasion  for  rising  on  account 
of  her  age ;  there  were  better  reasons !  As  I  read  them,  I  was 
happy  to  know  and  to  love  her  as  they  all  do.  May  the  sun- 
shine of  her  gentle  and  kind  spirit  long  bless  us ! " 

His  last  farewell,  August  8th,  1905,  in  Los  Angeles,  was  to 
pledge  her,  in  his  jolly  way,  to  "hold  on  for  another  twenty 
years  and  see  us  all  through." 

In  his  January  and  June  letters  and  circulars  Mr.  Nelson 
delights  the  heart  of  Madame  Severance  by  showing  the  cul- 
mination of  his  plans  for  profit-sharing  and  cooperation : 

"St.  Louis,  Jan.  1,  1905.  To  Employees :— The  amount  now 
handed  you  makes  a  continuous  dividend  for  nineteen  years 
of  from  four  to  ten  pen  cent  annually  on  your  wages  and  sal- 
aries. On  the  stock  you  received  for  your  dividends,  you 
have  received  from  eight  to  seventeen  per  cent  a  year.  Dur- 
ing this  period  the  company  has  cared  for  its  sick  and  dis- 
abled and  has  contributed  toward  public  relief  and  better- 
ment in  various  directions.  We  have  now  decided  to  take  our 
customers  also  into  partnership.  Out  of  the  profits,  capital 
will  get  bank  rate  of  interest  and  the  remaining  profits  will 
be  apportioned  in  the  proportion  of  one  per  cent  on  capital, 
one  and  a  half  per  cent  on  wages  and  salaries  and  two  per 
cent  on  the  gross  profit  on  customers'  trade.  Relief  expendi- 
tures are  charged  as  business  expenses.  In  addition,  all  the 
interest  and  profit  accruing  on  my  stock,  which  is  about  four- 
fifths  of  the  whole,  will  be  apportioned:  four-tenths  to  the 
trade,  three-tenths  to  the  employees  and  three  tenths  to  such 
public  and  benevolent  purposes  as  I  initiate  and  supervise. 
The  management  of  the  company  remains  unchanged,  the  unit- 
ed interests  will  increase  its  prosperity  and  enlarge  its  bene- 
fits. The  dividends  will  be  paid  in  my  stock.  It  should  not 
take  many  years  for  the  complete  ownership  and  control  to 
pass  into  the  hands  of  the  employees  and  customers,  who  to- 
gether are  the  makers  of  the  profit.  Very  sincerely,  N.  O. 
Nelson/' 


Cfte   auotfter    of   Clufis         173 


CHARLES  FERGUSON. 

"You  have  been  a  great  friend  to  us  both.  It  is  a  fine  thing 
to  us  to  feel  that  you  belong  somehow  to  us  and  we  to  you. 
With  most  sincere  respect,  and,  may  I  say,  affection,  — ." 

"Dear  Gentlewoman:  Always  yourself,  as  the  whole  world 
knows.  It  would  perhaps  be  worth  while  to  have  a  broken 
head  or  a  broken  heart,  just  for  the  sake  of  coming  to  you  to 
have  it  mended.  But,  alas,  my  martyrdom  is  a  pure  impos- 
ture. I  have  been  called  'anarchist'  by  some  village  hood- 
lums, but  try  as  I  migh't,  I  have  not  been  able  to  get  further 
along.  I  could  not  even  find  any  two-legged  being  to  face  me 
with  the  word.  How  good  it  is  to  be  just  human,  acknowl- 
edging the  kinship  of  princes  and  presidents,  when  they  be- 
have themselves,  and  poor  devils  of  assassins  always ! 

"The  'Affirmative  Intellect'  is  getting  in  its  word  gradually, 
edgewise.  This  morning  I  received,  by  the  kindness  of  Ern- 
est Crosby,  a  copy  of  the  London  Daily  News,  with  a  column 
about  the  book.  Also,  I  find  a  column  and  a  half  in  the  Bos- 
ton Transcript  of  January." 

MR.  AND  MRS.  LOUIS  PRANG. 

Extract  from  the  many  letters  of  "The  Dear  Tramps,"  as 
Madame  Severance  calls  them: 

"Grand  Canyon  of  the  Colorado,  April  21,  1902.  The  place 
is  crowded,— all  indoor  accommodations  spoken  for,  so  we  had 
to  take  up  with  a  tent,  which  we  gladly  did,  as  a  new  exper- 
ience in  our  peregrinations  is  always  welcome.  And  the  storm 
which  tried  its  best  to  lift  us  up  into  an  aerial  flight  into  the 
canyon,  the  hail  rattling  on  the  canvas  over  our  heads,  the 
thunder  and  lightning  and  the  icewater  to  wash  in  in  the 
morning— at  a  temperature  of  25  degrees— gave  us  an  ex- 
perience to  satisfy  our  appetites  for  once,— completely. 

"L.  P." 


174         Cfje   figjotfcer    of    Clu60 


"Sunshine  Cottage,  Oracle,  Arizona.  Mr.  D.  has  written 
to  us  the  meeting  for  Mr.  Lloyd  Garrison  at  your  house  and 
what  a  fine  occasion  it  was.  What  a  reception  you  all  gave 
to  Booker  Washington  and  what  a  fine,  sound,  splendid  char- 
acter he  has  to  be  able  not  only  to  accomplish  the  wonders 
he  has  at  Tuskegee,  but  also  to  hold  his  head  level  in  the  midst 
of  his  successes !_  *  *  *  Last  night  our  thermometer  stood 
at  12  degrees,  but  it  has  rapidly  risen  until  now,  at  10  o'clock, 
it  stands  at  34  degrees.  The  sky  is  cloudless  and  the  sun  bril- 
liant. With  very  affectionate  greeting,  from  us  both.  Yours, 
Mary  and  Louis  Prang. " 


HENRY  DEMAREST  LLOYD. 

On  his  arrival  in  Los  Angeles  for  a  brief  stay,  Mr.  Lloyd 
called  upon  Madame  Severance.  She  found  him  a  man  of 
great  charm  of  manner,  bearing  indisputably  the  fine  old  name 
of  gentleman,  earnest  as  an  apostle  and  without  pose  or  self- 
consciousness.  His  utter  sincerity  is  borne  out  by  his  last 
words,  when  having  thrown  himself  into  a  day  and  night 
struggle  against  the  efforts  of  the  politicians  to  secure  in- 
definite street  franchises  in  Chicago,  he  said  to  a  friend  who 
lamented  the  fatal  result  of  his  zeal,  "Oh,  but  I'd  do  it  again." 

Besides  his  pamphlets  and  articles,  he  sent  Madame  Sever- 
ance the  note  from  which  we  quote: 

"Boston,  Jan.  2,  1902.  Your  most  welcome  note  has  arrived 
and  one  of  the  pleasantest  duties  of  the  New  Year  is  to  tell 
you  how  glad  I  am  to  be  thus  remembered.  Your  cards  to  the 
delightful,  fine  people  you  know  here  will  strengthen  me  in 
their  esteem  and  I  shall  certainly  present  them.  I  am  not  so 
sanguine  that  they  will  all  want  to  'hear  reform  talk'.  There 
is  an  optimism  among  the  well-to-do  in  Boston,  as  everywhere, 
which  turns  from  those  who  point  out  rising  tides  and  talk  of 
floods,  to  those  who  can  amuse  them  with  the  sweet  languors 
of  culture.  Of  all  the  audiences  I  am  addressing  and  all  the 


C6e    Q^otftet    of    C  lu  60          175 


people  I  meet,  there  are  none  so  receptive  and  responsive  as 
those  of  California." 

WILLIAM  E.  SMYTHE. 

Madame  Severance  was  naturally  warmly  interested  in  the 
campaign  of  William  E.  Smythe,  of  San  Diego,  as  nominee  for 
congress,  because  of  the  causes  for  which  he  stood— suffrage 
for  women— the  true  democracy,  as  embodied  in  equal  rights 
for  all  and  special  privileges  for  none ;  rule  of,  for  and  by  the 
people;  and  as  an  able  and  eloquent  advocate  of  national  irri- 
gation of  our  arid  lands,  of  which  movement  he  was  the  founder. 
She  was  urged  to  write  a  plea  to  the  voters  on  his  behalf,  being 
assured  that  it  would  be  of  service.  She  did  this  and  it  had 
large  circulation,  .but  the  political  opposition  prevailed.  Mr. 
Smythe 's  letters  to  her  refer  to  this  effort  and  to  other  mutual 
interests  in  current  questions— the  new  evangelism  of  B.  Fay 
Mills,  Mr.  Smythe 's  book  on  Constructive  Economics,  etc. 

"August,  1904.  Mighty  forces  are  at  work,  more  powerful 
than  party  platforms  and  conventions."  Mr.  Smythe  declares 
his  own  work  to  be  to  deliver  society  from  water-monopoly 
and  thus  secure  the  economic  freedom  of  the  millions  who  are 
to  live  on  arid  lands.  He  declines  to  run  for  congress  again, 
lest  it  interfere  with  this  special  work  and  ends,  "I  deeply  ap- 
preciate what  you  did  in  the  congressional  campaign  two  years 
ago  and  know  that  you  would  do  it  again." 

"August  28,  1904.  Your  exceedingly  welcome  and  interest- 
ing letter  has  come  to  hand.  *  *  *  We  must  do  thoroughly 
and  bravely  the  work  of  today  and  trust  God  to  make  us  ready 
for  the  greater  work  of  tomorrow.  *  *  *  Are  you  reading 
Lawson's  articles  in  Everybody's?  If  not,  do  get  the  mag- 
azines beginning  with  July.  *  *  *  With  sincere  regards 
and  best  wishes  for  your  health,  in  which  Mrs.  Smythe  joins 
me." 

B.  FAY  MILLS. 

Madame  Severance  also  became  warmly  interested  in  the 
work  of  B.  Fay  Mills  and  Mrs,  Mary  Russell  Mills,  in  their 


176          cfte   epot&er    of   Clii60 

broad  field  of  the  Los  Angeles  Fellowship,  which  stands  for 
unselfish  and  trustful  living,  and  emphasizes  the  Golden  Rule 
in  civic  and  social  life,  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brother- 
hood of  all  men. 

"San  Diego,  Oct.  24,  1903.  I  am  doing  what  I  believe  to 
be  a  pioneer  work  for  our  time  and  so  far  I  have  found  only 
an  embarrassment  of  riches.  *  *  *  I  have  long  known  you 
as  the  'Edward  Everett  Hale  of  Los  Angeles'  and  who  can  say 
more  of  any  incarnate  soul  ?  I  shall  be  delighted  to  meet  you 
personally  when  I  pass  through  Los  Angeles.  I  am  thinking 
somewhat  of  spending  a  week  or  two  with  my  friend,  Mr. 
Pease,  at  Long  Beach  and  preaching  in  his  ideal  little  church 
this  primal  gospel.  This  church  has  over  its  doors,  as  perhaps 
you  know,  the  inscription,  'A  Temple  of  Brotherhood  and 
Truth/  Again  expressing  my  hearty  appreciation  of  your 
interest,  I  remain,  most  sincerely  yours. " 

Again:  "We  hold  you  in  a  very  tender  place  in  our  hearts 
and  in  the  very  highest  esteem  in  our  thoughts ;  and  account  it 
a  great  privilege  to  have  you  associated  with  us  in  our  attempt 
to  put  a  new  content  into  the  idea  of  religion.  With  the 
heartiest  good  will  and  good  wishes." 

"Jan.  29,  1903.  I  should  also  have  gone  out  to  call  upon 
you,  if  I  could  by  any  possibility  have  gotten  the  time.  I  live 
under  such  pressure  that  I  hardly  get  time  to  eat  or  sleep,  and 
am  rarely  able  to  enter  so  much  as  the  doors  of  a  private  house. 
While  I  feel  perfectly  at  home  in  your  delightful 
and  restful  abode,  I  have  to  decline  practically  all  social  invi- 
tations and  say  'This  one  thing  I  do.7  I  am  sure  you  will 
not  think  I  am  unappreciative  in  not  coming.  *  *  *  We 
regard  you  as  one  of  our  most  vigorous  young  women.  With 
every  good  wish." 

J.  STITT  WILSON. 

In  the  early  nineties,  Rev.  W.  D.  P.  Bliss  came  to  Los  An- 
geles, fresh  from  an  effort  in  Boston  to  arouse  the  thoughtful 


Cfte    aporfter    of    £1  uft$          177 

of  all  churches  to  the  dangerous  conditions  prevailing  in  our 
industrial  world.  With  the  sympathetic  endorsement  of  his 
Bishop  there  and  here.  Rev.  Bliss  aroused  great  interest  in  all 
classes  in  the  vital  questions  of  the  hour.  Later  J.  Stitt  Wilson 
visited  Los  Angeles  upon  the  same  mission,  having  left  his 
church  in  Illinois  for  the  wider  field  of  sociological  study.  With 
most  compelling  enthusiasm,  rare  eloquence  and  consecration, 
he  rallied  large  audiences  to  hear  his  message.  Madame  Sever- 
ance had  been  largely  interested  in  the  work  of  Mr.  Bliss  and 
took  a  warm  interest  in  that  inaugurated  by  Mr.  Wilson.  A 
correspondence  has  grown  out  of  their  mutual  interests  in 
which  Mr.  Wilson  frequently  expresses  his  appreciation  of 
Madame  Severance's  assistance. 

"February  18,  1903.  How  can  you  stop  to  think  of  me  and 
mine  and  my  labors  in  the  midst  of  your  unending  interests? 
Your  love  and  interest  in  me,  humbles  and  exalts  me.  I  am 
truly  surprised.  *  *  *  I  must  do  as  I  think  best,  even 
though  I  do  not  please  my  dearest  friends.  As  you  have  quoted 
for  me  in  the  beautiful  poem  of  Edith  Wharton's, 

Truth's  way,  not  mine— say  your  word, 

Not  yours  or  mine,  but  Truth's  as  you  receive  it,— 

The  socialists  attack  my  socialism;  my  other  friends  attack 
my  Inspired  Life  Message,  *  *  *  Well,  the  truth  is  that 
all  the  life  and  light  and  inward  power  that  now  possesses  me, 
I  have  found  in  refusing  any  voice  but  God's  and  going  on. 
First,  rejecting  the  church— and  on  to  socialism.  Then  re- 
fusing to  let  the  socialists  hinder  me  in  my  Life  Message  to  the 
individual.  Now,  under  criticism  of  friends— both  ways.  But 
I  press  forward  to  the  mark  of  my  high  calling  in  the  eternal 
Christhood  of  the  race-life,  hearing  but  one  voice. 

"Let  me  add  my  word  of  benediction  while  your  noble  years 
last.  Let  me  love  you  for  your  goodness  to  me— I  mean  that 
for  my  work's  sake  and  for  the  world's  sake— you  have  been 
good  to  me.  I  count  it  no  common  privilege  to  receive  your 


178          Cfje    8©ot|)er    of    Clu&0 

blessing.      All  are  well  and  happy.     Mrs.  Wilson  joins  me  in 
all  I  write  you." 

"January  30,  1906.  Instead  of  my  ranch  experience  silenc- 
ing my  soul  concerning  the  world  affairs,  my  silence  has  led 
to  the  festering  point— such  as  I  have  seldom  felt  since  I  left 
the  church.  I  have  lived  all  these  great  questions  over  again 
and  my  soul  is  hot  within  me  and  I  am  more  than  ever  con- 
vinced that  I  should  make  my  contribution  to  the  social  re- 
construction, and  make  it  according  to  the  best  work  I  have 
ever  done,  viz.,  from  the  moral  and  ethical  standpoint.  *  *  * 
How  I  wish  years  upon  years  could  now  be  added  to  your  event- 
ful life !  So  much  that  you  have  lived  for  and  hoped  for  must 
soon  ripen  in  our  national  life.  I  would  that  you  might  be 
spared  to  see  it!" 

CHARLES  F.  LUMMIS. 

"March  13,  1900.  I  do  not  feel  any  need  of  defense;  but 
I  do  care  for  the  spirit  which  raises  up  defenders.  So  far  as  I 
can  judge,  I  would  fight  for  what  seems  to  me  decent,  if  every 
hand  on  earth  were  against  me.  But  I  wouldn't  if  I  thought 
no  other  hand  would  presently  be  raised  in  defense  of  the  same 
truth.  It  wouldn't  be  worth  while.  To  throw  one's  self 
away  literally  for  nothing  isn't  heroic,  but  stupid.  But  it  is 
as  stupid,  I  hope,  not  to  be  able  to  feel  that  no  life  is  thrown 
away  which  is  given  to  a  good  cause.  *  *  *  The  hopeful 
thing  is  that  there  are  still  chivalry  and  faith— that  there  are 
people  whose  blood  leaps  to  defend  not  only  a  cause,  but  any 
fighter  for  the  cause.  All  reforms  need  extremists— born 
fighters;  but  all  reforms  are  carried  out  finally  because  there 
are  more  conservative  people,  less  violent  but  as  true,  who  will 
rally  (very  much  in  the  order  and  procession  of  their  relative 
intelligence)  to  the  cause.  It  is  very  good  for  me  when  a 
woman  like  you  can  bid  me  godspeed.  Doubtless  it  is  partly 
vanity  (though  a  vanity  which  would  rather  have  the  right 
few  than  the  wrong  many) ;  but  it  is  doubly  dear  because  it 


Cfte    90otj)et    of    Clu&s          179 


means  that  the  things  I  love  and  believe  in  have  more  and 
better  allies  than  my  own  fist— though  I  am  confident  enough 
of  that— so  far  as  it  goes." 

"Nov.  23,  1900.  Your  letters  are  not  only  so  generous,  but 
so  good!  They  are  always  a  pleasure  to  me.  *  *  *  Our 
only  hope  for  righteousness  of  any  sort  is  in  the  slow,  stupid, 
but  I  believe,  persistent  conscience  of  the  people.  And  I  shall 
never  despair  of  it.  I  may  not  live  to  see  the  revulsion;  but 
it  shall  come.  And  no  work  toward  it  is  lost." 

"January  2,  1901.  All  good  thoughts  and  all  good  wishes 
for  you,  this  opening  of  a  new  year,  dear  Mrs.  Severance.  I 
hope  it  may  be  very  rich  to  you." 

"Jan.  30,  1902.  All  good  works  interest  me;  but  I  can  not 
do  them  all.  My  only  chance  is  to  concentrate  on  a  few." 

"Dec.  27,  1905.  That  was  very  sweet  and  very  like  you  to 
send  a  letter  of  holiday  greeting,  and  we  all  appreciate  it. 
When  in  their  convenience  the  bookseller  and  the  postman 
bring  the  other  '  remembrances '  they  also  will  be  treasured ;  but 
the  letter  is  the  chief  thing.  *  *  *  I  believe  in  keeping  up 
the  few  human  feasts  of  the  old  time  *  *  *  and  in  this 
house  we  do  it.  I  wish  you  might  have  seen  our  Christmas 
tree— for  not  all  the  wise  men  of  the  East  ever  beheld  its  like." 

"Feb.  25,  1905.  The  Sequoia  League  is  preparing  for  pub- 
lication in  the  daily  papers,  a  sort  of  symposium  of  very  brief 
letters  from  prominent  and  interested  people,  on  the  subject 
of  the  need  for  a  new  reservation  for  the  Campo  Indians.  "We 
would  like  to  have  something  from  you  on  the  subject.  We 
feel  sure  that  you  appreciate  the  importance  of  action  by  Con- 
gress on  this  subject,  if  these  Indians  are  to  be  saved  from 
periodic  starvation  and  made  self -supporting. " 

BISHOP  GEORGE  MONTGOMERY. 

"Los  Angeles,  Jan.  15,  1901.  My  dear  Mrs.  Severance,  I 
arrived  home  yesterday  evening  to  find  your  letter  when  too 
late  to  accept  your  kind  invitation  to  be  among  the  number  of 
those  to  wish  you  every  blessing  on  your  81st  birthday.  As 


180          Cfte    Sgotfter    of    C 1 1160 


that  was  impossible,  permit  me  in  this  way  to  assure  you  of 
my  own  good  wishes  for  you— as  hearty,  I  am  sure,  as  any  on 
the  part  of  those  who  were  able  to  be  present.  Hoping  that 
God  may  grant  you  many  years  yet  to  do  the  good  you  are 
always  striving  to  do,  I  remain,  yours  most  sincerely,  G.  Mont- 
gomery." (Bishop  of  Monterey  and  Los  Angeles.) 

DR.  JOHN  R.  HAYNES. 

"My  dear  Madam:  On  this,  the  eighty-first  anniversary  of 
your  birth,  allow  me  to  express  my  keen  appreciation  of  your 
great  sympathy  for  all  the  unfortunate  and  down-trodden  of 
the  world ;  your  great  contempt  for  all  brands  and  shams ;  your 
indomitable  courage  in  fearlessly  writing,  speaking  and  work- 
ing for  your  highest  ideals  and  their  consummation.  *  *  * 
When  one  looks  over  the  land  and  sees  the  degradation,  abject 
and  seemingly  hopeless,  of  the  masses  of  the  nations  of  the 
world,  the  spirit  of  ruthless  commercialism  that  excites  the 
expenditure  of  five  times  as  much  money  in  the  efforts  to  de- 
stroy a  liberty-loving  people  and  desolate  their  land  in  South 
Africa,  as  would  keep  in  plenty  the  starving  millions  in  India ; 
that  incites  the  greatest  republic  on  earth,  whose  proud  boast 
was  its  government  by,  for,  and  of  the  people,  to  force  a  hated 
foreign  yoke  upon  a  people  that  have  fought  for  liberty  for 
four  hundred  years;  the  trampling  under  foot  of  honor,  fair 
play,  liberty  and  moral  law,  in  the  mad  rush  for  power  and 
wealth  among  the  leading  spirits  of  the  people ;  when  one  sees 
all  this  and  does  not  become  a  hopeless  pessimist,  it  is  because 
he  sees  in  you  and  others  actuated  by  your  motives— the  force 
that  will  leaven  the  mass.  *  *  *  May  you  live  many  years, 
my  dear  Mrs.  Severance,  and  continue  to  aid  with  your  dear, 
brave  and  kindly  heart,  the  spread  of  the  doctrine  of  brotherly 
love !  With  utmost  respect,  I  am  most  sincerely  and  cordially. ' ' 

Time  and  space  would  fail,  to  quote  even  a  full  list  of  Madame 
Severance's  valued  and  valuable  correspondence.  Besides  her 
eastern  friends  and  those  who  have  passed  on,  she  has  a  num- 


Cfte    Qfjotftet    of    Clu&s  isi 

ber  of  occasional  corespondents  in  this  State  and  neighbor- 
hood, all  of  whom  bear  the  same  testimonials  and  treat  of  the 
same  live  topics. 

She  has  also  a  large  number  of  autographic  notes  from  em- 
ient  persons— Harriet  Beecher  Stowe,  Eliza  Sproat  Turner, 
whose  "Rooster-pecked  Hen"  was  a  clever  retort  for  the  "Hen- 
pecked Husband";  Celia  Thaxter,  Gail  Hamilton,  Anne  Whit- 
ney, poet  and  sculptor;  Clara  Morris,  Jean  Davenport  Lander, 
Senator  and  Mrs.  Bard,  Wendell  Phillips,  George  W.  Curtis, 
George  W.  Cable,  Frederick  Douglas,  Charles  D.  Warner ;  Gen. 
Armstrong,  of  Hampton;  Prof.  J.  H.  Allen,  of  Cambridge; 
Vivekananda,  the  Buddhist,  with  interpretation  of  his  name 
as  "conscience  and  pleasure— one  taking  pleasure  in  con- 
science." 

Kate  Sanborn  writes  from  her  "Abandoned  Farm" ;  Florence 
Williams,  daughter  of  G.  P.  R.  James,  the  English  author, 
writes  of  her  plans  and  of  Madame  Severance's  kindness. 
There  are  prized  letters  from  Elizabeth  Cady  Stanton  and  from 
Ednah  D.  Cheney,  and  from  many  other  prominent  suffrage 
workers. 


IX. 
"EL  NIDO." 

Fair  house  of  peace;  green  leaves,  sweet  rest; 

Flowers  of  the  garden  and  the  heart; 
A  hostess  blessing  every  guest, — 
We  love  to  meet,  we  grieve  to  part. 

Charlotte  Perkins  Gilman,  in  Ye  Geste  Book. 
August  10,  1905. 

Under  "Red  Roof",  as  Madame  Severance's  Adams  street 
home  was  once  called,  many  distinguished  persons  have  so- 
journed. And  since  the  later  name  was  chosen,  "El  Nido" 
has  been  visited  by  a  succession  of  eminent  men  and  women. 
For  more  than  thirty  years  this  hospitable  home  has  been  a 
rendezvous  for  literary  people  visiting  Los  Angeles,  for  leaders 
in  progressive  thought— in  whatever  direction,  it  may  tend, 
and  for  men  and  women  interested  also  in  local  or  municipal 
reforms  and  improvements.  The  title  "Mother  of  Clubs"  has 
been  supplemented  by  that  of  the  "Ethical  Magnet  of  Southern 
California,"  bestowed  by  one  of  her  friends. 

Until  1892  "Red  Roof"  was  blessed  by  the  genial  spirit  and 
ready  wit  of  the  loved  father  and  husband,  Theodoric  C.  Sev- 
erance, whose  presence  was  always  an  added  charm  to  every 
social  gathering. 

On  entering  the  house  one  sees  first  the  library,  there  being 
no  vestibule,  but  direct  entrance  to  the  room  where  book 
shelves  and  book-laden  tables  abound.  Many  of  the  volumes 
here  are  valuable,  not  only  in  themselves,  but  for  their  auto- 
graphic inscriptions.  Mrs.  Severance  highly  prizes  a  full  set 
of  the  works  of  her  admired  friend,  Charles  Sumner,  presented 
to  her  by  the  New  England  Woman's  Club  on  her  departure 
for  California,  in  1875.  Upon  the  flyleaf,  Mrs.  Julia  Ward 

182 


Cfte    9@otJ)er    of    €Iu60          iss 

Howe  wrote,  "A  farewell  tribute  of  esteem  and  affection," 
and  the  books  were  presented,  with  fitting  words,  by  the  late 
Ednah  D.  Cheney. 

In  presenting  her  with  his  book,  "The  Affirmative  Intellect, " 
Charles  Ferguson  aptly  wrote  on  the  title-page,  "To  Madame 
Severance,  of  the  widest  horizons  and  the  most  venturesome 
faith."  The  various  sentiments  of  admiration  and  apprecia- 
tion written  in  the  books  presented  by  their  authors  are  ample 
proof  of  her  high  affiliations  with  some  of  the  most  noted  men 
and  women  that  America  has  produced.  Among  others  are 
Alcott 's  Emerson,  Trowb ridge's  "Vagabonds,"  several  volumes 
of  travel  written  by  Henry  M.  Field,  editor  of  the  Evangelist ; 
the  autobiography  of  Ednah  D.  Cheney,  and  various  volumes 
presented  by  Mrs.  Jessie  Benton  Fremont.  One  of  the  sou- 
venirs presented  by  the  latter  is  a  tortoise  shell  fan,  ordered 
by  General  Fremont  in  Italy,  and  decorated  with  Mrs.  Fre- 
mont's monogram,  also  a  chair  cushion  made  by  herself  for 
Madame  Severance,  from  an  India  shawl. 

One  of  the  most  valued  possessions  of  Madame  Severance  is 
a  mug  made  for  her  great  grandmother  in  1790,  from  conti- 
nental silver  dollars  and  engraved  "H.  F."  (Hannah  Fisher.) 

Upon  a  bracket  in  her  library  are  arranged  a  series  of  pho- 
tographs which  Madame  Severance  denominates  her  "Immor- 
tals." They  include  Mrs.  Browning,  George  Eliot,  Margaret 
Fuller,  Lydia  Maria  Childs,  Lucy  Stone,  Louisa  Alcott,  Celia 
Burleigh,  Ednah  D.  Cheney,  and  Lucretia  Mott.  On  a  cor- 
responding one  are  pictures  of  Junipero  Serra,  Wendell  Phil- 
lips, Longfellow,  Whittier,  James  Freeman  Clarke,  William  H. 
Channing,  Lowell,  Samuel  Johnson,  and  others. 

One  of  the  valued  souvenirs  is  a  medallion  of  Charles  Sumner, 
done  by  a  Mrs.  Johnson,  of  Washington,  a  friend  of  his,  in  her 
eightieth  year— her  first  work  of  art.  One  of  the  most  prized 
treasures  is  a  photograph  of  Louisa  Alcott  which  she  sent  to 
Madame  Severance's  son,  Seymour.  Beneath  the  picture  Miss 
Alcott  wrote,  "For  Professor  Bags,"  referring  to  his  gymnastic 
exercises  in  his  preparatory  school  days,  when  he  resided  with 


184         cbe   S@ot0er   of   Clufis 


the  Alcott  family;  and  on  the  other  side  of  the  picture,  she 
wrote,  "Height,  five  feet— weight,  140  pounds— useful  but  not 
ornamental ;  goes  well  in  single  harness ;  worth  at  present  $50,- 
000;  but  not  for  sale!  May,  1875. " 

Another  prized  relic,  as  representing  two  noted  Concord  fam- 
ilies, is  a  pebble  painted  by  May  Alcott,  the  artist  of  the  family, 
showing  a  rustic  summer  house,  built  by  her  "impractical" 
father,  for  Emerson  on  his  grounds. 

A  picture  of  interest  is  a  photograph  of  five  generations  of 
the  Severance  family,  from  Mrs.  Severance's  mother  to  her  first 
great  grand-daughter— a  rare  sight  in  this  generation.  Other 
treasures  are  a  plate  from  the  famous  Sevres  set  of  Napoleon  I ; 
a  daguerreotype  of  George  Sand,  taken  from  life,  and  one  of 
Mazzini,  copied  from  a  painting.  These  were  brought  to  her 
by  their  friend  and  well-known  suffrage  worker,  Ernestine  L. 
Rose,  of  New  York  City.  Indeed,  the  cottage,  "El  Nido,"  is 
filled  with  a  variety  of  such  objects  as  always  become  of  value 
to  relic-hunters  and  historical  enthusiasts. 

Madame  Severance  may  well  prize  many  of  her  books;  but 
the  most  valuable  and  unique  of  them  all  are  the  Silver  Wed- 
ding Record,  presented  to  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Severance  in  1865,  on 
the  celebration  of  their  silver  wedding  at  their  home,  Elm 
Lawn,  Massachusetts;  and  Ye  Geste  Book  of  later  years.  The 
first  entry  on  opening  the  Silver  Wedding  Record  is  a  poem, 
too  long  to  quote,  written  by  Mrs.  Severance's  old-time  friend 
and  comrade  in  suffrage  work  in  the  West,  Frances  Dana  Gage, 
and  about  which  she  adds,  "You  see,  dear  Carrie,  how  old  and 
hoarse  my  muse  hath  grown!"  Next  is  a  dedication  by  Car- 
oline H.  Dall,  who  had  been  a  comrade  in  the  early  Boston  suf- 
frage campaigns.  Charming  verses  follow  by  Mrs.  Harriet 
Winslow  Sewall,  the  author  of  the  well  known  poem,  "Why 
this  longing,  why  this  sighing?"  Mrs.  Sewall  and  her  hus- 
band, Judge  Sewall,  were  among  the  earliest  and  most  intimate 
friends  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Severance  and  Mrs.  Sewall's  verses  fill 
a  page  of  the  volume.  Two  of  the  verses  testify  to  her  appre- 
ciation : 


Cfte    £0  at  fur    of    Clubs  185 


Dear  friends,  at  this  returning  nuptial  hour, 

Need  I  invoke  that  spirit  to  preside, 
Who,  for  long  years,  with  harmonizing  power, 

Has  filled  your  hearts;  your  home  has  sanctified? 

And  since,  where  love  the  poorest  threshold  passes, 

All  other  blessings  follow  in  her  train, 
I  weave  in  one,  all  wishes  for  your  welfare,— 

An  ardent  prayer  for  her  perpetual  reign. 

Then  follow  the  signatures  of  the  beloved  " Mother  Long" 
and  her  grandson,  Solon  Severance,  who  had  come  from  Cleve- 
land to  be  present  on  this  occasion;  Isabella  Beecher  Hooker; 
Dr.  and  Mrs.  Dio  Lewis,  of  Lexington,  Mass.;  Mattie  Griffith, 
of  Kentucky,  and  her  husband;  Albert  G.  Browne  and  sister, 
Mrs.  Satterlee;  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Henry  Ivison  (sister  of  Mrs. 
Severance)  ;  the  Burrage  family,  of  Boston,  and  many  others. 

Regrets  follow  from  New  England  and  Cleveland  friends. 
Signatures  of  George  Bradburn,  then  of  Melrose ;  Mrs.  Harriet 
Minot  Pitman;  James  Freeman  Clarke  and  Mrs.  Clarke;  of 
William  Lloyd  Garrison  and  Frank  Garrison,  representing  this 
family  of  friends,  and  Dr.  Marie  Zakrzewska,  of  Boston,  follow. 
The  names  of  the  Customs  House  staff,  of  Port  Royal,  S.  C.,  are 
written;  these  men  presented  a  handsome  epergne,  engrossed 
by  the  bold  hand  of  one  bearing  the  historic  name  of  Hancock. 
The  list  ends  with  the  signatures  of  many  of  those  who  have 
since  passed  on,  the  Aliens,  Rev.  Zachos,  and  William  H.  Avery, 
among  others.  Then  come  regrets  and  blessings  from  distant 
friends.  Secretary  Chase  writes  thus:  "Dear  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Severance— If  I  were  nearer  Boston  I  should  make  one  of  the 
company  at  your  silver  wedding.  May  you  only  know  the 
lapse  of  time,  turning  your  silver  into  gold,  by  the  blessings 
coming  with  it!  Sincerely  your  friend,  Salmon  P.  Chase." 

This,  too,  is  worth  giving  here:  "The  great  comfort  and 
beauty  of  human  life,  that  which  more  than  all  else  makes  it 
worth  the  living,  is  in  the  family  and  the  home,  in  the  wife 
and  children,  in  the  love,  care,  joy  and  sorrow  of  married  life. 
May  your  silver  wedding  turn  to  gold  and  your  life  grow,  year 


186  Cf)c    Qfjot&er    of    Clubs 

by  year,  into  'what  is  more  to  be  desired  than  gold,  yea,  than 
much  fine  gold!'  Ever  yours,  Theodore  Tilton." 

Congratulations  were  received  from  Bronson  Alcott  and  wife, 
with  the  gift  of  his  "Life  of  Emerson." 

"I  wish  I  could  give  you  more  than  words,  but  you  know, 
'speech  is  silver/  and  if  on  the  next  great  wedding  day  which 
you  may  keep  among  your  grand-children,  you  miss  even  my 
poor  words,  you  must  still  believe  in  the  love  that  cannot  die, 
and  accept  my  'silence  as  golden/  Grace  Greenwood." 

"Our  best  and  kindest  wishes  for  your  constant  happiness 
and  prosperity.  Truman  Seymour,  U.  S.  A.,  Williamstownr 
Mass." 

"I  have  real  pleasure  in  the  remembrance  of  the  welcome  to 
your  pleasant  home  on  the  beach  at  Hilton  Head,  and  the  temp- 
tation to  forego  duties  in  order  to  meet  you  on  this  interesting 
occasion  is  very  great.  May  many  long  years  of  happiness  be 
in  store  for  you!  James  F.  Hall."  (An  army  acquaintance  in 
South  Carolina.) 

"I  congratulate  you  and  all  your  family,  with  a  warm  heart, 
on  this  beautiful  anniversary.  What  a  happiness  to  have 
twenty-five  years  of  married  home  life !  I  hope  you  will  have 
a  very  'happy  wedding'  and  that  it  will  begin  another  quarter 
century  of  love  on  earth.  Ednah  D.  Cheney." 

"Ashfield,  Mass.,  Sept.  27,  1865.  I  have  here,  and  only  to- 
day, by  some  curious  delay  at  home,  your  kind  and  pleasant 
summons  to  your  happy  anniversary.  I  can  only  fling  an  old 
shoe  after  you,  for  I  am  a  month  behind.  Yet,  if  it  should 
give  you  the  best  and  fairest  fortunes,  it  would  give  you  only 
what  I  mean.  Certainly  I  should  not  have  believed  it  your 
silver  wedding,  if  you  had  not  said  it  yourself.  May  your 
silver  turn  to  gold,  dear  madam,  and  my  card  then  reach  me' 
earlier  than  a  'month  late  !'  Ever  faithfully  yours,  George  Wm. 
Curtis." 

"I  am  glad  the  sun  shines  so  brightly  for  your  beautiful 
festival,  my  dear  Mrs.  Severance.  Thanks  to  you  for  your 
kind  intimation  of  a  welcome  were  I  privileged  to  join  the 


Cfte   a&ot&er    of    Clu&s          isr 

friends  who,  circle  within  circle,  will  cluster  around  you  and 
Mr.  Severance  today  to  offer  their  double  congratulations  for 
the  rich  and  fruitful  past— secure  to  you  forever,  which  gives 
such  assurance  of  faith.  Anna  Q.  T.  Parsons."  (Miss  Par- 
sons was  one  of  the  wisest  and  best  beloved  friends  of  the  New 
England  Woman's  Club.  With  her  pen  she  had  been  active 
in  its  organization  and  its  work,  although  for  twenty  years 
prostrate  upon  a  couch.  And  now,  after  fifty  years  of  invalid- 
ism,  her  mental  vigor  is  unabated,  and  her  great  heart  still 
throbs  for  her  friends  and  their  activities.) 

"Mt.  Desert,  August,  1865.  What  can  I  say  to  you,  dear 
friends,  who  so  far  happily  advanced  on  life's  journey,  now 
start  anew,  as  it  were,  from  a  fresh  bridal  ?  Is  not  all  included 
in  this,  'God  bless  you'?  The  blessings  of  heaven  rest  on  your 
aims  and  plans  on  your  hopes  and  hearts!  Lucy  Goddard." 

"Ye  Geste  Book,"  so  titled  by  Mrs.  Strobridge,  of  Los  An- 
geles, who  has  just  given  it  a  fresh  and  unique  binding,  is  an 
autographic  treasure-trove,  containing,  as  it  does,  the  signa- 
tures of  many  men  and  women,  eminent  in  scholarship,  in  litera- 
ture, or  in  service  to  their  fellow  men. 

In  connection  with  this  book,  which  was  installed  in  the 
Severance  household  in  the  sixties,  an  interesting  incident  is 
related  of  W.  W.  Story,  the  artist.  A  cousin  of  his,  visiting 
him  in  Rome  and  noting  the  throng  of  distinguished  visitors 
constantly  crossing  the  threshold  of  his  studio,  suggested  a 
guest  book,  after  Mrs.  Severance's  idea.  The  artist  at  once 
accepted  the  suggestion,  installed  the  book  and  sent  a  message 
of  gratitude  and  respect  to  Madame  Severance. 

Turning  the  leaves  of  this  book,  one  finds  first  the  home 
records,  the  birthdays  and  holidays  and  outings  of  the  family, 
together  with  the  names  of  neighbors  and  guests  and  greetings 
from  far  and  near,  with  many  tributes  to  the  host  and  hostess. 

Soon  after  the  settling  in  Los  Angeles,  in  1875,  appear  the 
names  of  a  group  of  cousins,  the  George  B.  Grinnells,  from 
Audubon  Park,  New  York.  In  September,  1878,  General  and 
Mrs.  Fremont,  Miss  Fremont,  Lieut.  Frank  Fremont,  and  a 


188  C  b  e    £@  o  t  J)  e  r    of    Clubs 

secretary,  en  route  to  Arizona,  dined  at  the  Severance  home 
and  left  a  tribute  to  "a  midsummer  day's  reality  of  pleasure." 

In  1879  appear  the  names  of  John  W.  Hutchinson  and  wife, 
with  a  record  of  "58  years  old,  39  years  singing,  and  10,000 
concerts." 

Later  are  the  names  of  Ludlow  Patten  and  wife  (Abby 
Hutchinson)  with  the  words,  "May  we  meet  one  hundred  years 
hence  in  the  City  of  the  Angels ! ' '  Henry  M.  Field,  the  brother 
of  Cyrus  and  David  Field,  and  family,  *  *  lunch  on  the  lawn  and 
sign  the  book.7'  Among  many  names  of  interest  appear  those 
of  Emily  Faithful  and  Charlotte  Robinson,  of  England;  in 
1885,  of  Helen  Hunt  Jackson ;  Captain  R.  H.  Pratt,  superintend- 
ent of  the  Indian  school  at  Carlilse,  Pa.;  J.  Wells  Champney 
and  wife,  who  wrote  "New  England  in  the  Tropics."  From 
New  Bedford  we  find  the  names  of  William  J.  Rotch,  father  of 
the  beloved  daughter-in-law,  Isabel  Rotch  Severance,  with 
his  family  and  the  Hathaways.  Locke  Richardson,  the  Shake- 
spearean reader,  said,  "  Tis  the  very  richest  of  thyself  that  I 
am  at." 

Such  names  appear  as  Charles  Dudley  Warner,  George  W. 
Cable,  Elizabeth  B.  Custer  and  sisters ;  John  W.  Chadwick  and 
wife;  Mrs.  J.  S.  Langrana,  of  Poona,  India;  John  W.  Hoyt, 
governor  of  Wyoming,  and  wife. 

On  an  eastern  visit  in  1888,  Mrs.  Severance  secured  the  names 
of  the  full  list  of  home  and  foreign  celebrities  attending  a 
Suffrage  Congress,  beginning  with  Mary  A.  Livermore,  and 
Lucy  Stone,  including  Mrs.  Ormiston  Chant  of  England,  Alice 
Trygg  and  Countess  Gripenberg,  of  Finland,  and  ending  after 
three  full  pages,  with  Frank  and  Wm.  L.  Garrison,  sons  of 
William  Lloyd  Garrison.  Later,  the  name  of  Elizabeth  Cady 
Stanton,  who  had  been  unable  to  attend,  being  then  in  her  87th 
year,  was  added  to  the  list. 

In  1889,  on  the  49th  wedding  anniversary,  the  record  shows 
many  messages  of  greeting  and  congratulation,  among  others 
from  Senator  Jones  and  family,  and  the  Fremonts.  Later 
appear  signatures  of  Governor  Waterman  and  wife ;  of  William 


Cfte    a^otfter    of    Clufts         189 

Milburn,  the  blind  chaplain;  of  a  group  of  friends  of  Mrs.  A. 
D.  T.  Whitney,  with  "a  day  to  be  remembered  while  memory 
lasts";  Edward  Everett  Hale  added  to  his  name,  his  famous 
motto,  "Look  up  and  not  down";  Susan  Hale,  Charlotte  Per- 
kins Stetson  and  Grace  Ellery  Channing,  wrote  their  names  on 
the  same  date  and  were  followed  later  by  Rev.  J.  Minot  Savage ; 
Kate  Sanborn,  who  wrote,  "He  who  has  a  thousand  friends  has 
not  a  friend  to  spare ' '  •  there  are  signatures  of  Cordelia  Kirk- 
land  and  Ina  Coolbrith,  the  San  Francisco  poet;  Susan  B. 
Anthony  wrote  in  October,  1896,  "Best  love  and  goodbye— at 
my  third  visit  to  this  dear  little  home ' ' ;  this  is  followed  by  the 
names  of  Carrie  Chapman  Catt,  Mrs.  E.  0.  Smith,  of  San  Jose ; 
Vivekananda,  who  wrote  these  words,  "From  the  unreal,  lead 
me  to  the  real— from  darkness  into  light." 

Among  many  other  words  of  appreciation  appear  those  of 
Richard  Burton,  the  poet;  Miss  Florence  Denton,  of  Kyoto, 
Japan ;  Will  Allen  Dromgoole,  Tennessee ;  Jan  Krigo,  of  Trans- 
vaal, South  Africa;  Henry  Demarest  Lloyd,  who  wrote,  "We 
can  preserve  the  liberties  we  have  inherited  only  by  winning 
new  ones  to  bequeath" ;  Mrs.  James  Eels,  "With  other  pilgrims, 
bowing  at  the  shrine  of  one  who  has  shown  how  good  and 
pleasant  a  thing  it  is  to  be  forever  young";  Frances  Enriquita 
Miiller,  born  in  "Valparaiso,  Chili ;  Eliza  Tupper  Wilkes,  ' '  Noth- 
ing human  is  foreign  to  me ' ' ;  May  Wright  Sewall,  ' '  Lead  kind- 
ly light  to  harmony  and  peace";  Louis  Prang,  "In  memory  of 
a  visit  never  to  be  forgotten";  Prof.  Frank  Parsons,  "With 
deepest  esteem  for  the  dear  lady  whose  thought  is  full  of  light, 
and  whose  heart  throbs  with  love  for  all  good  in  human  life 
and  progress";  Walter  Thomas  Mills  wrote,  "All  the  world 
belongs  to  all  the  people— and  you  and  I  are  of  the  people"; 
J.  Stitt  Wilson,  "The  tongue  that  hath  lost  the  power  to  wound 
hath  not  attained  the  power  to  teach";  Sam  Jones,  "Golden 
Rule"  mayor  of  Toledo,  Ohio,  "I  have  looked  for  equals  and 
lovers  and  have  found  them  ready  for  me,  in  all  lands";  later 
Mrs.  Lucretia  R.  Garfield  and  Mrs.  Garfield  Brown. 

Many  of  the  women  attending  the  Biennial  in  Los  Angeles 


190         c&e   a^otftet   of   Clufis 

in  1902,  left  their  names  in  Madame  Severance's  guest  book. 
Among  these  appear  Mrs.  Denison,  the  president;  Mrs.  Lowe, 
ex-president;  Mrs.  Coonley-Ward,  "The  happiest  week  that  I 
remember ";  Mrs.  Barnes  ,of  Kentucky;  Jane  Addams,  of  Hull 
House;  Mrs.  Maud  Nathan,  and  Florence  Kelley,  of  the  Con- 
sumers' League,  "who  has  been  consuming  a  charming  luncheon 
in  her  own  individual  capacity,  and  enjoying  a  delightful  chat 
with  Madame  Severance";  Miss  Ladd  of  Boston,  Madame  Sev- 
erance's whilom  opponent  on  the  subject  of  the  use  of  the  mili- 
tary drill  in  schools ;  Helen  E.  Bradbury,  mother  of  Kate  Doug- 
las Wiggin;  Clara  Bewick  Colby,  editor  of  the  Woman's 
Tribune,  who  wrote,  "Once  more  I  am  delighted  to  find  myself 
at  'El  Nido'  and  find  my  revered  friend  full-summed  in  all  her 
powers";  Laura  M.  Johns,  of  Kansas,  said,  "A  woman's  woman 
is  dear  Madam  Severance,  and  the  world  is  better  for  her  life. 
Certainly  she  is  blessed  in  great  giving." 

George  W.  Woodbey,  colored  socialist  lecturer;  and  ex-Gov- 
ernor Hughes  and  daughter  of  Arizona  wrote  their  names. 
William  E.  Smythe  wrote  that  "to  make  the  desert  blossom 
with  the  homes  of  men"  was  his  purpose;  Judge  Tuley,  of  Chi- 
cago, wrote,  "The  only  use  I  have  for  the  technicalities  of  the 
law,  is  in  the  interest  of  personal  liberty";  Josephine  C.  Locke 
wrote,  "There  is  no  religion  higher  than  truth";  Ella  Wheeler 
Wilcox  penned  these  lines: 

New  thought  means  only  the  eternal  youth, 
Of  all  the  oldest  principles  of  Truth. 

Among  later  names  are  those  of  Jack  London,  Mrs.  Mary  A. 
Sperry,  president  State  Suffrage  League ;  Mary  Anthony,  Sarah 
J.  Eddy,  of  New  Jersey,  and  many  other  prominent  people. 

The  vine-screened  porch  of  "El  Nido"  is  an  ideal  California 
breathing-place,  and,  summer  or  winter  its  mistress  has  greeted 
her  visitors  from  the  hammock  as  often  as  from  her  open  door- 
way. No  better  description  can  be  given,-  perhaps,  than  the 
one  embodied  in  a  characteristic  letter  to  the  Woman's  Journal 
of  Boston,  written  by  herself  in  1900 : 


Cfte    ^otftet    of    C  I  it  60         191 

"  'Old  memories  and  the  whispering  ghosts  of  dear,  dead 
days,  when  life  was  young/  come  to  me  as  I  lie  in  my  hammock, 
while  the  sunset  light  filters  soothingly  through  the  many  rose 
and  ivy-wreathed  arches  of  the  long  veranda,  with  the  accom- 
paniment of  a  mocking-bird  orchestra  from  a  single  throat,  as 
the  performer  sits  jauntily  poised  on  the  top-most  bough  of  a 
graceful  pepper  tree.  To  give  you  a  complete  picture  of  the 
restfulness  of  the  position,  let  me  tell  you  that  my  hammock 
is  not  of  the  netted  sort,  which  shuts  one  closely  in  at  the  risk 
of  dainty  muslins  and  silks,  and  may  treacherously  toss  one 
out  at  a  change  of  position  ;  but  is  of  barrel  stave  foundation, 
with  a  light  mattress  over  its  broad  level  surface. 

"I  rest  in  my  hammock,  and  dream  of  the  charming  New 
England  life  and  friends,  and  here  receive  my  ghostly  but  be- 
loved visitants.  My  New  England  grand-daughter  and  name- 
sake is  my  vis-a-vis,  in  a  twin  hammock  at  the  other  end  of  the 
veranda,  and  by  her  presence  and  her  chat  recalls,  delight- 
fully, the  past.  It  is  a  peaceful  situation  and  we  may  believe 
ourselves  happy  beyond  most  others.  *****  Groups 
of  friends  and  neighbors  have  met  at  my  house  weekly,  or 
monthly,  for  the  past  three  years,  to  canvass  and  discuss  the 
magazines,  Congressional  Reports,  etc.  These  readings  have 
included  Bellamy  and  Henry  George,  with  their  critics  ;  Henry 
D.  Lloyd's  startling  "Wealth  versus  Commonwealth  ",  which 
arraigns,  by  authentic  court  and  government  records,  the 
Standard  Oil  Trust  and  its  affiliated  railroads,  in  their  open  or 
covert  defiance  of  law,  of  courts,  legislatures  and  of  Congress. 
We  have  also  studied  the  works  of  the  late  Professor  Ely,  and' 
other  writers  on  Economics.  " 

Six  years  have  passed  since  the  above  was  penned  by  Madame 
Severance*,  but  the  graveled  roadway  leading  to  the  charming 
cottage  under  the  big  magnolia  and  rubber  trees  is  still  trav- 
ersed by  local  representatives  of  numerous  literary,  club  and 
civic  affairs  and  by  those  who  are  eagerly  seeking  encourage- 
ment in  broad  humanitarian  movements. 


OF  THE 

UNIVERSITY 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWE1 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  .mmed.ate  recall. 

24NOV63PV         -  JUN  o  8  ?nnj 


REC'D  LD 


JAN  1 0'64^PM 


LD  2lA-40m-4,'63 
(D6471slO)476B 


General  Library 

University  of  California 

Berkeley 


YB   1248- 


